DT 


UC-NRLF 


57    flUU 


DR.  PAOLO  DE  VECCHI 


ITALY'S  CIVILIZING  MISSION 
IN  AFRICA  ======= 


o 


NEW   YORK  -  BRENTANO'S  -  FIFTH  AVENUE  &  27th   STREET 


GIFT  OF 


DR.  PAOLO  DE  VECCHI 
t\ 


ITALY'S 
CIVILIZING  MISSION 

IN   AFRICA 


1912 


NEW     YORK 

BRENTANO'  S 
FIFTH  AVENUE  &  2;th  STREET 


ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED. 


FLORENCE  —  443-1911-12,  Barbera  Press,  ALFANI  &  VENTURI  proprietors. 


TO  HIS  MAJESTY 
THE  EMPEROR   OF  GERMANY 


This  is  not  a  dedication,  for,  this  little 
work  is  only  an  unpretentious  exposition  of 
some  rather  qiteer  ideas,  a  few  daring  opi- 
nions, and  per  haps  a  very  fantastic  conclusion. 

It  is  instead  only  an  address  from  an  Ita- 
lian, who  adores  his  own  country  and  in  con- 
sequence, cannot  love  the  German  Emperor 
although  he  admires  in  him  the  greatest  liv- 
ing ruler  the  world  has  had  since  the  great 
Napoleon. 

When  a  very  sad  fatality,  called  him  ra- 
ther prematurely,  to  the  highly  responsible 
task  of  governing  a  country,  unsettled  after 
the  gigantic  war  of  1870,  of  managing  people 
of  different  races,  different  nationalities  and 
religious  creeds,  of  directing  a  political  crowd 
restless  under  the  brzttal  domination  of  an 


299778 


—    VI 


able,  bztt  despotical  diplomatist,  he  proved  to 
be  a  worthy  match  to  a  worthy  cause. 

His  amazing  audacity,  which  for  a  while 
filled  his  people  with  anxiety,  won,  after  all, 
the  heart  of  the  Germans,  who  soon  found  in 
him  the  great  and  just  ruler,  who  gave  to  his 
country  all  that  which  a  man  can  give, — his 
entire  life, —  leading  her  to  prosperity  and 
glory ;  giving  to  his  people  that  political  self- 
confidence,  which  is  the  foundation  of  a  Na- 
tion s  strength. 

He  made  a  mistake,  however,  the  day  he 
walked  into  the  Vatican  with  the  boldness  of 
a  Master,  perhaps  winning  a  needed  political 
favor  at  home,  but  loosing  for  ever  the  de- 
voted affection  of  the  Italians,  which  had  al- 
most given  him  the  right  to  come  to  Rome 
as  a  Roman  Emperor. 

Italy,  from  that  day,  forgot  Sadowa,  and 
recovered  her  political  independence,  her  self- 
reliance,  which  brought  her  to  the  glorious 
undertaking  of  to  day  without  help,  without 
tutelage;  an  undertaking  in  which  the  German 
Emperor  s  sagacity  ought  to  see  the  fatal  op- 
portunity  of  solving  the  Oriental  Question. 

An  opportunity  which  ought  to  devolve  to 
a  great  r^ller,  to  a  great  master  of  diplomacy 
like  him. 


VII    — 


There  is  in  Europe  a  congeries  of  civilized 
Nations,  who  are  disputing  between  themselves 
the  political  supremacy,  who  are  following  the 
principles  of  the  same  religion,  which  has  a 
cross  for  its  pennant,  a  flag  that  means  the 
effort  of  humanity  toward  moral  perfection, 
but  who  yet  tolerate  shamefully  that  a  beautiful 
part  of  their  land  should  be  ruled  by  people 
of  different  race,  of  different  creed,  different 
principles,  entirely  opposed  to  Christianity. 

Only  one  third  of  the  population  of  Tur- 
kish Europe  is  Mussulman,  and  yet  the  two 
thirds  of  them,  being  Christians,  have  to  stiff er 
the  tyranny  and  the  abuse  of  Islam,  ttnder 
the  eyes  of  their  indifferent  brethren. 

And  this  outrage  is  possible  in  this  twentieth 
century  of  civilization  and  progress,  only 
because  there  is  not  a  man  who  would  lead 
the  willing  crowd  with  that  pennant  of  the 
Cross,  which  has  been  once  the  glory  of  Christ- 
ianity. 

The  time  is  ripe,  and  this  is  the  great  op- 
portunity of  a  really  Great  Ruler,  who  wozild 
thus  send  down  to  posterity  his  name  as  that  of 
the  greatest  Reformer  after  Christ. 

DR.  PAOLO  DE  J^ECCHL 


TRIPOLI  AND   CYRENAICA. 


Italy's  occupation  of  the  North  Eastern  Coast 
of  Africa,  so  called  Tripolitania  and  Cyrenaica,  has 
opened  up  again  that  Oriental  question  which  has 
been  for  centuries  the  unsolved  problem  of  diplo- 
macy, which  has  been  also  the  field  of  the  most 
terrible  wars,  massacres  and  exterminations  that 
history  could  register  in  its  fatal  books. 

Such  an  event  has  been  foreseen  for  years,  and 
it  is  only  due  to  the  urgent  reforms  needed  at  home, 
more  than  to  the  ineptitude  of  the  Government, 
that  the  occupation  did  not  take  place  earlier. 

There  were  good  reasons  enough,  partly  diplo- 
matical  and  partly  political,  but  one,  the  essential 
one,  which  stimulated  and  excited  most  the  patriotic 
feeling  of  the  Italian  people  of  every  class,  was  the 
unfair  treatment  of  our  numerous  colony  of  laborious 
and  industrious  countrymen  by  the  officers  of  the 
Turkish  Government,  who  with  all  sorts  of  vexations 


have  been  continually  trying  to  prevent  the  peaceful 
and  beneficial  invasion  of  Italy  in  a  country,  where 
she  brought  labor,  industry,  wealth  and  justice. 

The  majority  of  the  natives,  well  aware  of  the 
great  advantages  of  the  Italian  immigration  were 
favorable  to  our  countrymen,  but  this  did,  only 
irritate  more  and  more  the  brutal  and  prepotent 
soldiers,  who  saw  in  the  spreading  of  education 
and  liberal  ideas  among  the  native  Arabs,  a  cause 
of  anxiety  and  danger  for  the  loss  of  their  tyran- 
nical power  and  supremacy. 

Things  came  to  a  climax,  when  the  Italian 
subjects  became  a  target  of  the  most  barbarous 
treatments  and  insults,  and  the  assassination  of  a 
peaceful  Italian  citizen  not  only  went  unpunished, 
but  the  perpetrator  of  the  crime,  as  a  challenge  to 
the  patient  remonstration  of  the  Italian  Consul,  was 
promoted  to  a  higher  official  position,  and  as  if 
this  had  not  been  enough,  to  the  protestations  of 
the  Italian  Government,  a  Turkish -Newspaper,  pub- 
lished in  Tripoli,  in  a  series  of  articles,  violently 
insulted  the  Italian  Government,  the  Italian  Army, 
while  the  Valy,  to  the  just  protest  of  our  official 
Envoy,  boldly  answered,  that  the  Press  was  perfectly 
free,  in  that  free  country ! 

A  National  Party,  in  Italy,  which  had  been 
growing  among  the  young  generation  of  intellectual 
men,  as  a  protest  against  the  ultraconservative 


element  holding  the  reins  of  the  Government,  began 
an  active  agitation,  trying  to  stimulate  public  sen- 
timent, waking  up  National  pride,  so  as  to  force 
the  Government  to  protect  National  dignity,  besides 
the  most  vital  interests  of  the  country. 

A  Nation  like  Italy,  the  historical  center  of  the 
Roman  greatness,  the  heir  to  the  glorious  power 
of  the,  once  famous,  Republics  of  Venice  and  Ge- 
nova,  the  youngest  Nation  of  Europe,  the  youngest 
of  the  world,  born  anew  only  fifty  years  back,  from 
the  ashes  of  centuries  of  misruling,  of  separation, 
of  revolutions,  courageously  resurrected  by  the  old 
spirit  of  a  latin  race,  fermented  into  a  new  great 
element  of  noble  sentiments,  a  Nation  built  and  ce- 
mented by  the  blood  of  so  many  martyrs,  could  not 
look  with  indifference  to  the  closing  of  that  sea  which 
had  been  once  her  own,  entirely  by  other  Nations, 
to  her  trade,  to  her  commerce,  to  her  traditions. 

Sons  of  Italy  swarm  over  the  Coast  of  Africa, 
where  they  are  the  real,  the  only  toilers  of  the 
soil,  the  only  traders  of  the  sea,  where  their  lan- 
guage is  almost  the  commercial  language,  the  of- 
ficial language  of  that  country. 

And  yet,  the  best  part  of  the  Mediterranean 
Africa,  does  not  belong  to  those  Italians,  who  made 
it  prosperous,  who  brought  there  the  first  wave  of 
civilization,  who  have  there  almost  the  only  schools 
in  the  land. 


The  National  Party  actively  revived  all  the 
historical  rights,  all  the  commercial  rights,  all  the 
human  rights  Italy  had  in  that  desolate  land,  made 
desolate  by  a  most  brutal  domination  of  a  rapacious 
and  tyrannical  race,  devoid  of  all  sentiments  of 
morality,  slave  traders  and  brigands. 

The  «  Gentil  sangue  Latino  »  responded  to  the 
appeal  of  the  most  intellectual  men  of  every  class, 
and  the  Government  could  not  hesitate  any  more, 
pressed  as  it  was  by  the  strong  sentiment  of  re- 
bellion against  the  abuse  of  the  Turkish  officials, 
and  by  the  universal  cry  of  the  Italian  Nation  for 
an  immediate  action,  to  protect  the  interests  of  our 
people,  to  impose  the  respect  of  our  flag,  and  to 
uphold  the  dignity  of  Italy. 

Premier  Giovanni  Giolitti,  in  a  letter  to  the  «  Daily 
Express  »  of  London,  last  September,  explains  the 
reasons  why  Italy  was  compelled  to  declare  war 
to  Turkey. 

It  is  worth  giving  here  in  full  this  letter,  a 
document,  which  comes  from  a  man  representing 
in  Italy  the  moderate  conservative  party,  the  party 
which  hesitated  so  long  to  take  this  final  step. 

Dear  Sir: 

«  I  received  your  letter  in  which  you  request 
my  statement  in  regard  to  the  actual  conflict  between 
Italy  and  Turkey. 


»  After  all  that  has  been  said  and  written  on 
the  subject  it  is  very  difficult  to  say  anything  new, 
especially  as  our  enterprise  evolved  in  such  a  frank 
and  loyal  way  that  it  could  not  leave  any  misun- 
derstanding with  the  old  school  of  diplomacy,  which 
had  a  chance  to  follow  it  step  by  step  from  the 
beginning. 

»  This  conflict  between  Italy  and  Turkey  is  of 
an  old  standing. 

»  It  has  gone  on  for  years,  and  often  it  has 
come  to  a  crisis  which  have  interested  the  outside 
world  and  compelled  us,  a  -few  years  ago,  to  mo- 
bilize our  fleet  on  the  verge  of  action. 

»  The  reasons  of  this  conflict  are  many,  the  prin- 
cipal one  being,  that  Turkey  would  not  admit  the 
necessity  of  our  expansion  in  Tripolitania,  and  the 
earnestness  of  our  intentions. 

»  One  needs  only  to  look  at  a  Map,  and  will 
see  at  once  the  ethnic  connection  of  Sicily  with 
Tripoli. 

»  History  tells  us  that  Tripoli  was  Greek  when 
Sicily  was  Greek  also,  and  both  became  Roman 
under  Roman  domination.  And  in  these  last  fifty 
years  of  our  great  evolution,  with  the  growth  of 
our  population,  and  our  prosperity  and  wealth, 
Tripoli  could  not  but  feel  the  effect  of  the  old 
ethnic  law,  and  be  considered  as  an  appendage  of 
Italy. 


»  We  cannot  direct  our  emigration,  but  we  are 
bound  to  protect  our  people  especially  where,  on 
account  of  the  condition  of  the  country,  our  pro- 
tection is  most  needed. 

»  We  could  not  abandon  our  countrymen,  their 
interests  and  their  capitals,  in  a  country  so  far 
backward  in  the  progress  of  civilization,  as  Turkey, 
where  our  countrymen  are  in  constant  need,  not 
only  of  a  moral  but  also  of  material  protection,  as 
are  the  citizens  of  other  countries,  who  are  com- 
pelled for  that  very  reason  to  keep  a  legal  con- 
stant watch  over  their  subjects. 

»  Being  unable  to  prevent  the  emigration  of 
our  countrymen,  Turkey  resorted  to  a  system  of 
abuses,  which  compelled  -  us  to  request  her  in  a 
friendly  way,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  unjust  prosecu- 
tions. But  vainly,  for  Turkey  took  our  patient  pro- 
testations as  a  sign  of  weakness,  and  lately  with 
an  open  impudent  act  of  despotism  violently  carried 
away  a  young  Italian  girl  in  Adana,  and  for  that 
barbarous  act  the  Authorities  refused  to  give  .any 
satisfaction. 

>  The  Turks  have  been  abusing  the  Italians 
and  their  possessions  without  any  regard  and  con- 
sideration that  the  Italians  have  always  treated  the 
Turkish  subjects  with  just  respect  and  humanity. 

»  Things  have  gone  so  far,  as  to  make  it  a 
question  of  National  pride  and  honor,  and  we  had 


w 

but  one  way  of  settling   it,    to    defend    with   arms, 
what  we  could  not  obtain  in  a  peaceful  way. 

»  And  now  that  we  are  engaged  in  this  un- 
dertaking, with  all  respect  toward  the  other  Na- 
tions, we  shall  settle  with  Turkey  our  difference, 
ready  to  enter  in  friendly  intercourse  with  her,  if 
we  find  her  reasonable. 

»  Everybody  knows  that  Italy  has  taken  active 
part  in  every  just  cause,  and  after  these  last  fifty 
years  of  our  unification,  enjoying  broad  sentiment 
of  liberty,  our  people  feel  entitled  to  the  respect 
of  other  Nations,  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  step 
into  the  mission  of  civilization  which  is  their  calling. 

»  Believe  me,  esteemed  sir,  yours 

»  GIOVANNI  GIOLITTI.  » 

Such  a  diplomatic  explanation  would  have  been 
rather  superflous,  if  diplomacy  had  not  some  ex- 
igencies ;  and  as  many  European  powers  were  not 
particularly  anxious  to  get  into  trouble  with  Turkey, 
on  account  of  the  many  different  interests  of  inter- 
national character  it  would  involve ;  the  public  sta- 
tement of  the  Premier  of  Italy,  had  a  clear  purpose 
of  settling  the  responsability  of  such  a  serious  un- 
dertaking on  his  own  shoulders,  or,  better,  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  majority  of  the  Italian  population, 
clamoring  for  an  immediate  action. 


The  claims  of  Italy  to  the  possession  of  Tripoli 
and  Cyrenaica  are  the  same  as  those  of  France  to  the 
possession  of  her  African  Colonies,  and  perhaps, 
in  addition  Italy  has  the  ancient  rights  which  come 
to  the  heirs  of  the  Roman  conquest,  to  the  more 
recent  rights  of  the  Genovese  and  the  Venitian 
Republics. 

At  any  rate,  the  right  of  the  Turks,  is  simply  that 
of  a  usurper,  who  got  it  on  the  strength  of  a  brutal 
force  of  arms,  when  nobody  could  contest  it  to  them. 

What  the  Turks  have  done  for  that  country, 
since  they  took  possession  of  it,  nobody  knows,  or 
at  least,  everybody  knows  that  they  did  nothing  to 
improve  it,  but  simply  levied  taxes  on  the  poor 
Arab  population,  maintaining  the  commerce  of  slaves, 
as  the  principal  trade  of  the  country,  while  the  Ita- 
lian emigrants,  especially  those  of  Sicily,  brought 
there  the  only  industrial  commercial  and  agricultural 
improvement  and  the  only  sign  of  modern  civilization, 
so  much  needed  in  that  country,  the  schools. 

Ofcours,  ewith  the  wave  of  civilization,  they  also 
brought  the  war  against  slavery,  and  naturally  at 
once  encountered  the  hatred  of  the  Turks,  who  saw 
in  it  the  loss  of  their  principal  revenues,  the  loss 
of  their  power. 

So  far  the  claim  of  Italy  was  only  moral  and 
material,  for  the  ethnic  reason  of  the  proximity  of 
Sicily,  the  emigration  brought  there  a  large  con- 
tingent of  work,  of  trade,  of  wealth. 


But  the  political  condition  of  Europe,  which  had 
made  necessary  the  expansion  of  France  in  Africa, 
so  far  as  to  almost  take  possession  of  Tunis,  which 
is  under  her  protectorate,  and  which  compelled 
England  to  practically  capture  Egypt,  where  her 
large  interests  demanded  protection,  woke  up  the 
political  people  of  Italy  to  the  realisation,  that  soon 
the  Mediterranean  sea,  that  sea  once  her  own,  by 
right  of  conquest,  was  going  to  be  entirely  lost, 
for  ever  to  her,  if  she  did  not  dash  to  the  remaining 
coast  left  to  her,  a  coast  to  which  she  is  entitled, 
more  than  France  is  entitled  to  the  possession 
of  Algier  and  Tunis,  more  than  England  is  entitled 
to  the  possession  of  Egypt. 

After  the  Franco  Prussian  war,  in  the  many 
gigantic  plans  that  Bismark  had  conceived,  was 
included  the  distribution  of  the  African  coast,  and 
that  shrewd  modern  Machiavelli,  had  offered  Tunis 
to  Italy  as  a  bone  of  dispute  with  France. 

But  Italy  was  not  prepared  to  increase  the  ill 
feeling  of  her  Latin  sister  to  foster  Bismark's  plans. 

Napoleon  the  third,  in  the  height  of  his  political 
power,  had  already  expressed  the  aspiration  of 
France  to  Tunis,  and  disposed  that  on  the  division, 
Tripoli,  should  go  to  Italy. 

It  would  have  been  a  bitter  contest  with  France 
the  occupation  of  Tunis,  and,  besides,  Italy  was 
not  prepared  to  such  a  big  enterprise,  and  the  re- 


IO    — 


proach  made  to  poor  Cairoli,  for  his  diplomatic 
ingenuity,  was  simply  a  malignant  insinuation  against 
the  great  patriot.  Italy  could  never  have  dreamt 
of  going  to  Tunisi  to  stay. 

Napoleon  had  planned  the  international  division 
of  the  Mediterranean  coast,  when  France  was  far 
from  dreaming  of  the  reverses  of  Sedan,  when  Eu- 
rope was  very  far  from  foreseeing  that  Egypt  would 
fall  an  easy  prey  to  England. 

If  Italy's  African  dream  had  been  for  a  while 
the  ambitious  possession  of  Tunis,  it  was  certainly 
a  dream  of  poets,  not  of  serious  political  students  of 
the  condition  of  Europe,  for,  England  was  too  anxious 
to  bargain  with  France  for  her  possession  of  Egypt 
and  the  Suez  Canal,  the  great  water  way  to  India. 

Besides  all  that,  Italy  was  not  prepared  to  un- 
dertake such  an  occupation  against  France,  who 
had  already  a  Colonial  army  used  to  battle  and  fight 
in  the  Algerian  frontiers,  and  Italy  had  also  the 
unfortunate  Abissinian  possession  on  her  shoulder, 
unsettled,  expensive  and  yet  exacting  a  great  deal 
of  attention. 

Recently  the  opportunity  for  an  action,  on  the 
part  of  Italy,  was  precipitated  by  the  Marocco  im- 
broglio, which  left  Italy  freehanded  in  her  African 
aspirations. 

As  territorial  assignments  are  currently  made 
among  the  most  civilized  powers,  she  was  justified 
in  acting  as  she  did. 


1 1 


By  the  nature  of  things  the  Turkish  title  to 
Tripoli  was  to  lapse,  and  all  things  considered,  it  is 
better  to  have  it  lapse  in  favor  of  Italy  than  of 
France,  or  Great  Britain,  or  Germany. 

Hypocritical  criticism  of  Italy  in  countries,  whose 
governments  have  been  conspicuous  in  African  par- 
titions, still  continues,  but  it  is  not  worth  consid- 
ering. 

What  profit  Italy  will  gain  from  a  desert  country, 
so  worthless  that  no  other  power  has  seriously 
cared  for  it,  does  not  appear,  but  if  it  is  usable  by 
any  other  country,  certainly  so  by  Italy,  its  nearest 
neighbour,  and  the  country  in  Europe  with  relatively 
the  largest  emigration,  and  thus  in  the  greatest 
need  of  Colonies,  if  Italians  are  to  live  under  their 
own  flag. 


The  world  at  large  can  hardly  understand  what 
the  occupation  of  Tripoli  and  Cyrenaica  by  Italy 
means,  for  it  is  hardly  possible  to  compare  such 
an  action  to  the  occupation  of  Tunis  by  France  or 
the  taking  of  Egypt  by  England. 

Both  those  already  powerful  countries  had,  one 
the  Financial  support,  the  other  a  well  organized 
army  in  her  adjoining  Colony.  And  both  had  to 
deal  with  local  government  utterly  unprepared  to 
oppose  any  resistance. 


12     


The  Khedive  of  Egypt,  a  financial  slave  of  En- 
gland, surrounded  by  English  advisers,  by  almost 
an  entire  English  administration,  mistrustful  of  the 
power  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  lest  he  would  lose 
his  throne,  was  ready  to  give  in  to  the  inevitable, 
and  the  English  army  had  to  deal  with  a  local  in- 
surrection which  could  be  calculated  to  the  limit. 

France  had  to  deal  with  the  famous  Bey  of 
Tunis  Mohammed  Sidi  Saddok,  the  indolent  Ruler 
of  the  most  indolent  troops,  who  had  the  choice 
between  the  Italian  and  the  French  protectorate, 
with  the  outmost  assurance  that  the  last  one  would 
have  given  him  more  money  and  less  trouble. 

Besides,  France  could  occupy  Tunis  without  any 
theatrical  display,  and  when  her  Consul  Monsieur 
Roustan,  that  i2th  day  of  May  1881,  famous  in 
the  Colonial  History  of  France,  announced  to  the 
apparently  astonished  Mohammed  Sidi  Saddok,  that 
Jules  Ferry,  the  Premier  of  France,  had  sent  him 
to  offer  the  protection  of  his  country;  General  Breart, 
with  his  brilliant  staff  of  officers  was  at  the  gate 
of  the  Bey  residence  of  Kasar  Said,  followed  by 
two  squadroons  of  Chasseurs  d'Afrique. 

The  offer  was  accepted  with  a  show  of  protest, 
which  was  indispensable  to  the  Bey,  as  a  diplomatic 
justification  for  that  mistifying  bargain. 

Italy's  task  is  very  different.  There  is  not  a 
Khedive  in  Tripoli  financially  pledged  to  Italian 


—   13  — 

Bankers,  and  there  is  not  a  Bey  in  Cyrenaica  ruling 
indolent  soldiers,  seeking  protection  from  Italy. 

Tripoli  and  Cyrenaica  are  under  the  rule  of 
Turkey,  and  a  new  Turkey,  just  awakened  to  a  sort 
of  National  pride  in  which  the  young  Turks  have 
pledged  themselves  strongly,  before  their  Nation, 
on  the  integrity  of  their  country. 

Italy  has  to  confront  a  Nation  of  soldiers,  tra- 
ditional soldiers,  who  live  still  in  the  conviction 
that  Islam  is  invincible,  unconquerable,  soldiers  led 
by  their  ancient  condition  of  shepherds,  contempla- 
tive and  slow,  by  their  religion  which  ties  their 
hands,  leaving  all  things  to  God,  by  their  traditions 
as  soldiers  of  Islam,  which  teach  them,  that,  there 
is  no  greater  or  more  necessary  act,  than  that  of 
fighting  and  conquering  for  their  faith. 

When  England  sent  her  navy  to  bombard  Alexan- 
dria, and  when  she  landed  an  army  to  destroy  the 
insurrection  of  the  Mahdi,  the  English  people  were 
well  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  occupation  of  Egypt 
meant  the  preservation  of  the  Suez  Canal,  water 
way  to  her  Indian  Colonies,  the  acquisition  of  the 
future  roads  to  her  Soudanese  possessions,  to  her  fu- 
ture African  Empire,  which  is  not  built  on  sentiment, 
but  on  commerce,  on  trade,  on  commercial  expan- 
sion of  her  products,  for  import  and  export  as  well. 

The  effort  of  France  to  extend  her  African 
Empire  is  also  commercial.  The  scope  of  her  con- 


—  I4  — - 

quest   is   the  investment    of  her  overcapitalization, 
of  her  economical  prosperity. 

There  is  no  sentiment  in  the  conquest  of  Egypt 
by  the  English  people,  there  is  no  sentiment  in  the 
conquest  of  Marocco  by  France,  for  neither  En- 
glishmen will  emigrate  to  Egypt,  nor  Frenchmen 
to  Marocco. 

Italy  is  going  to  Africa  to  protect  her  people, 
for  Italy  is  a  country  of  emigrants,  a  country  in 
need  of  expansion  for  her  human  labor. 

No  wonder  that  Italy  made  preparations  to  meet 
all  sorts  of  difficulties,  especially  after  her  sad  expe- 
rience of  Abissinia. 

The  landing  of  an  army  of  sothousand  men  in 
an  hostile  country,  where  everything  had  to  be  con- 
veyed from  Italy,  everything  from  a  morsel  of  bread 
to  a  drop  of  water,  to  supply  daily  such  an  army, 
in  a  fighting  trim,  was  such  a  gigantic  enterprise 
that  it  could  not  be  done  at  a  short  notice. 

Yet,  to  the  great  surprise  of  the  most  expert 
military  authorities,  everything  was  done  with  the 
most  commendable  exactitude  and  discipline,  as  if 
the  preparation  of  that  campaign  had  been  calcu- 
lated far  ahead  of  that  time. 

War  is  certainly  a  terrible  event,  and  in  the 
present  international  outburst  of  sentimentalism 
against  bloody  conflicts  between  nations,  the  world 
is  turning  that  hypothetical  word  «  arbitration  »  to 


—   15  — 

its  best  advantage  by  the  conservative  people,  who 
desire  to  save  what  they  have,  holding  it  at  the 
great  expense  and  worry  of  an  armed  peace,  a  sort 
of  gigantic  policeman,  whom  you  pay  profusely, 
to  watch  your  elegant  mansion,  while  you  enjoy 
the  comfort  of  your  wealth. 

And  so  it  is  used  and  abused  by  that  sort  of 
socialoids,  who  associate  with  the  anarchists,  who  by 
the  abolition  of  war,  understand  also  the  abolition 
of  the  standing  armies,  of  the  formidable  navies, 
which  mean  taxes  over  the  masses  of  people,  who 
have  no  need  of  that  sort  of  «  Policeman  »  to  watch 
the  mansion  they  have  not,  the  comfort  they  can 
not  enjoy,  and  the  capitals  which  are  not  their  own. 


If  by  arbitration,  the  sentimental  apologists,  the 
patrons  of  Peace,  understand  the  abolition  of  those 
tremendous  wars  of  the  past,  which  were  fought 
for  the  caprice  of  one  man,  for  the  acquisition  of 
power  by  an  ambitious  conqueror,  for  the  succession 
of  an  aristocratic  inheritance,  and  often,  for  the  ra- 
pacity of  an  association  of  overambitious  scoundrels, 
titled,  crowned,  illustrious,  but  nevertheless  scoun- 
drels, then,  the  good,  sentimental  lovers  of  peace 
do  not  need  to  worry. 


__    16   — 

The  time  is  past,  when  Nations  had  not  formed 
yet  a  collective  soul,  when  their  power  of  collective 
thoughts  did  not  exist,  for,  then,  the  masses  were 
bound  to  follow,  unconscious,  the  will  of  a  master, 
the  fortune  of  the  audacious  and  strong. 

And  so  it  was  that  for  two  centuries,  before  the 
French  revolution,  Europe  has  been  a  field  of  most 
ferocious  wars,  horrible  revenges,  massacres,  exter- 
minations and  misery. 

But  the  conscience  of  the  people  began  to  wake 
up  to  new  ideas  of  liberty,  of  independence,  of 
freedom,  and  the  seed  of  the  American  revolution 
sown  over  the  propitious  soil  of  France,  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era  of  civilization  for  the  People, 
for  their  nations. 

And  then  France  fought  those  famous  battles, 
which  were  battles  of  the  people  eager  to  destroy 
a  long  era  of  prejudices  of  oppressions  of  privi- 
ledges,  in  which  the  world  had  slept  for  centuries. 

What  would  she  be,  France,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  that  great  revolution,  and  for  those  hundreds  of 
battles  that  she  fought  so  bravely  ? 

And  what  would  Europe  have  been  without  that 
grand  and  noble  struggle? 

The  war  aroused  those  sleeping  Nations  from 
their  eternal  slumber,  and  the  blood  shed  in  those 
tremendous  battles,  gave  new  life  to  Europe,  formed 
the  conscience  of  the  people  and  built  up  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Nations. 


«  Sivis  paccm,  para  belhini^ ,  tell  us  our  leaders, 
modern  philosophers,  conservative  dreamers  of  a 
peace,  which  has  never  been,  and  will  never  be 
possible  with  human  nature. 

But  the  people,  the  masses,  conscious  of  their 
rights,  see  in  the  gigantic  armaments,  in  the  enor- 
mous expenses,  which  falls  entirely  upon  their  labor, 
a  menace  to  their  liberties,  to  their  rights,  to  the 
very  name  of  peace  on  which  name  arbitration, 
the  hypothetical  conundrum  of  to  day  is  based. 

Who  could  honestly  imagine  a  universal  peace, 
when  Nations  like  Poland,  Finland,  Greece,  the 
Balkan  people,  suffer  an  unjust  oppression,  when 
many  Nations  are  yet  under  the  most  autocratic 
rules,  human  beings  are  disposed  to  suffer? 

Can  they,  those  Nations,  those  people  follow 
the  famous  dictum  of  a  Tyrant,  «  Si  vis  pacem,  para 
bellum  ?  > 

No,  they  can  not. 

They  have  to  suffer  or  rebel,  and  they  will  have 
the  sympathies  of  all  the  other  oppressed  people, 
in  their  struggle  for  liberty,  as  the  American  and 
the  French  people  had  during  their  struggles. 

What  was,  she,  America,  before  Washington, 
what  was  France,  before  Napoleon  ? 

And  yet  those  two  names  are  not  remembered 
for  their  legislative  power,  for  their  administrative 
genius,  but  they  are  painted  with  sword  in  hand 


—    i8  — 

fighting,  and  their  name,  their  great  name,  is  that 
of  soldier. 

And  yet  they  do  not  represent  but  the  conscience 
of  their  people  fighting  for  their  liberties ;  so  much 
so,  that  Washington's  greatness  will  go  down  to  pos- 
terity, superior  to  that  of  Napoleon,  because  he  did 
not  abuse  of  the  mission  of  which  he  was  intrusted : 
the  defense  of  the  rights  of  his  people;  while  Na- 
poleon, blinded  by  his  successes,  forgot  at  the  end 
that  he  had  but  one  mission:  to  lead  his  people. 

People  of  to  day,  are  not  any  more  the  tools 
of  one  man's  ambition,  but  the  man  whom  the  fate 
puts  at  the  head  of  a  Nation  will  be  great  and 
famous  if  he  will  understand  the  conscience  of  his 
own  people. 

And  the  people  of  to  day  will  not  stand  the 
enormous  expense  of  an  armed  peace ;  will  not 
support  that  policeman  paid  to  watch  the  big  man- 
sions of  the  few,  he  will  rebel  to  privileges  and 
their  protection. 

War  is  certainly  a  tragedy,  an  ugly  tragedy, 
but  it  is  not  a  tragic  caprice  as  Max  Jahns,  G.  Val- 
bert,  Ernest  Renan,  and  Le  Bon,  would  like  to 
make  it,  war  is  not  a  sentimental  philosophic  ne- 
cessity, but  is  unfortunately  a  fatal  necessity. 

Italy  has  taken  advantage  of  her  opportunities, 
to  shake  the  yoke  of  oppression  which  has  hung  over 
her  for  centuries,  her  struggle  was  a  tragedy,  for 


—   i9  — 

it  was  a  tremendous  undertaking,  an  exhibition  of 
the  most  noble  list  of  martyrdom  of  her  best  people. 

It  was,  though,  a  redeeming  long  struggle,  from 
which  she  came  out  what  she  is  now,  a  Noble, 
Grand  Nation,  whatever  ignorant,  and  abject  wri- 
ters of  modern  history  may  say. 

And,  as  Italy  had  her  fatal  wars,  other  Na- 
tions will  have  theirs,  when  opportunity  will  come 
their  way. 

For,  it  is  not 'possible,  that  it  will  breed  in  the 
mind  of  any  sensible  man,  even  if  he  be  afflicted 
by  the  poetical  fad  of  arbitration,  that  a  Nation  like 
Poland,  a  great  Nation  with  a  great  history  will 
not  wait  for  her  opportunity,  and  avail  herself  of 
the  same,  in  the  most  terrible  way  to  regain  that  li- 
berty to  which  she  is  fully  entitled. 

It  has  been  a  long  war  of  redemption,  that  of 
Italy,  and  so  it  will  be  a  long  war  of  redemp- 
tion that  of  Poland,  and  the  world  will  sympathize 
with  her. 

The  most  noble  and  touching  words  of  a  man  so 
generous  and  so  high  minded  as  President  William 
Taft,  the  deeply  suggestive  work  of  Baroness  Von 
Suttner,  and  the  able  book  of  Novikow,  which  is 
a  jewel  of  sociologic  science,  will  not  change  the 
fatality  of  history,  fatality  which  like  illness  and 
epidemic,  may  be  attenuated,  but  will  afflict  the 
world  at  large  for  ever. 


20 


As  long  as  humanity  will  exist  there  will  be 
wars,  and  if^it  is  human  and  just  that  everybody 
individually  should  desire  peace,  should  work  for 
peace,  yet  it  is  impossible  to  admit  it. 

And  as  fatality  calls  for  war,  the  people,  not 
the  government,  should  be  prepared  for  it,  and  the 
people  who  will  not  be  ready  for  war,  will  suffer 
the  fate  of  the  weak. 


Italy  is  not  a  Nation  of  fighting  people.  Her 
citizens  are  sober,  steady  toilers  of  the  soil,  indus- 
trious and  expert  artisans  in  almost  every  branch 
of  work,  hard  students,  with  an  artistic  temperament 
well  known  and  appreciated  all  over  the  world. 

Their  peaceful,  humane  and  gentle  character 
which  makes  them  fond  lovers  of  the  family,  has 
been  perhaps  the  psychological  reason  of  the  rapid 
increase  of  the  population,  and  the  consequent  need 
of  emigration,  to  relieve  the  overpop-ulated  districts, 
especially  those  of  the  south. 

The  experience  of  Abissinia,  where  they  have 
been  the  real  bearers  of  Civilization,  where,  at  their 
own  expenses  they  have  helped  to  found  an  Empire, 
where  they  have  only  worked  for  the  expansion  of 
England,  to  whom  in  a  moment  of  collective  folly 


21 


they  gave  Cassala,  has  made  the  prudent  Italian 
government  still  more  cautious,  lest  it  would  run 
into  some  risky  enterprise. 

But,  to  day,  the  people  of  Italy,  peaceful  as  they 
really  are,  understood  that  the  moment  had  come, 
when  it  was  time  to  show  to  the  world  that  the 
love  for  peace,  the  humanity  of  their  character  were 
mistaken  for  fear,  for  weakness,  for  cowardice. 

The  best  part  of  the  Nation  saw  that  the  mo- 
ment had  come  when  she  could  prove  that  her  re- 
cent history  of  regeneration,  of  resurrection,  the 
glorious  history  of  these  last  fifty  years  of  her  na- 
tional life,  was  not  a  fallacy,  but  the  result  of  sound 
progress  and  that  she  could  not  feel  second  to  any 
Nation  in  the  world. 

Notwithstanding  the  insane  opposition  of  some 
of  the  ultra-socialists,  and  the  criminal  protest  of 
some  dissatisfied  men  without  a  country,  the  majo- 
rity of  the  people  of  Italy,  demanded  a  prompt  action, 
and  to  that  demand,  to  the  surprise  of  the  world  the 
Government  responded  with  admirable  promptness. 

The  ultimatum  sent  by  Italy's  Minister  of  Fo- 
reign Affairs,  the  28th  of  September  1911,  will 
sign  an  historical  epoch  of  the  greatest  importance, 
for,  that  grave  document  was  sent  only  with  great 
reluctancy  by  a  peacefully  disposed  government, 
which  had  tried  all  the  peaceful  means  possible  to 
avoid  a  conflict. 


22 


The  European  powers,  eager  to  prevent  a  war 
whose  consequences  could  not  be  well  calculated, 
offered  their  mediation,  which  was  a  generous  offer 
of  a  large  monetary  compensation  to  Turkey,  a 
very  humane  way  of  arbitration  on  the  part  of  a 
country  which  was  the  offended  party. 

But  the  Turkish  government  sent  an  evasive 
answer,  entirely  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  Italian 
Government's  precise  demand  of  a  prompt  settlement, 
and  to  the  great  regret  of  the  conservative  party, 
but  the  evident  delight  of  the  Nationalists  of  Italy, 
in  fact  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Italian  popu- 
lation, war  was  at  once  declared,  and  the  Navy 
and  Army  at  once  mobilized  for  the  purpose  of 
occupying  Tripoli  and  Cyrenaica  at  once. 

To  the  great  surprise  of  most  of  the  foreign 
countries,  and  even  to  the  Italian  population  at 
large,  the  Government  was  fully  prepared  for  the 
great  undertaking,  the  greatest  in  fact  that  the 
world  has  yet  seen. 

To  transport,  at  a  short  notice,  an  army  of 
50,000  men  with  the  full  equipment  of  a  war  cam- 
paign, into  the  enemy's  field  across  the  sea,  and 
land  them  on  a  fortified  coast  defended  by  the  best 
soldiers,  the  most  stubborn  fighters  known  in  mo- 
dern warfare,  is  one  of  the  most  gigantic  under- 
takings that  any  Nation  has  yet  dared  to  do. 


And  all  this  was  done  by  a  splendid  Navy,  by 
a  large  number  of  transports  with  the  most  mathe- 
matical prevision,  without  an  accident  to  mar  the 
splendid  landing. 


Reason  for  going  to  war  cabled  by  her  Foreign  Mini- 
ster at  the  request  of  the  New  York  Times. 

In  response  to  a  request  cabled  by  the  New 
York  Times  in  September,  1911  for  a  statement 
of  Italy's  grounds  for  declaring  war  against  Turkey, 
the  Marchese  di  San  Giuliano,  the  Italian  Foreign 
Minister,  cabled  yesterday  the  following  reply,  through 
Signer  G.  Fari  Forni.  the  Italian  Consul  General 
in  New  York. 

Rome,  Italy,  Sept.  30,  1911 

The  conflict  which  appears  to  have  unexpectedly  broken 
out  between  Italy  and  Turkey  is  only  the  epilogue  of  a  long 
series  of  vexations  and  abuses,  even  more  real  than  apparent, 
against  Italy  and  Italians,  by  the  authorities  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

For  a  long  time  innumerable  complaints  had  been  made 
to  the  Royal  Government  by  our  countrymen  in  every  part 
of  the  Empire,  asking  for  prompt  justice  for  the  many  vexa- 
tions, for  denied  justice,  and  for  real  unjust  impositions,  which 
they  had  to  bear,  the  solution  of  which  was  eternally  delayed. 
In  this  class  of  complaints  eternally  involved,  which  showed 
that  the  legitimate  demands  of  the  Royal  Government  were 


—  24  — 

taken  into  no  consideration  whatever  by  the  Porte,  it  is 
enough  to  remember  the  Giustiniani  complaints,  for  the  arbi- 
trary intervention  of  the  Ottoman  Authorities. 

In  the  cause  of  local  justice,  the  case  of  Capoleone 
Guarmani  of  Kuhn  and  of  Grissoni  from  Marcopoli  of  the 
Sola  heirs,  respectively  creditors  of  the  Stato  or  of  members 
of  the  Imperial  Family. 

The  Italian  firm  Stagni  was  obliged,  by  the  hostilities  of 
the  local  Ottoman  Authorities  to  abandon  the  concession  to 
cut  wood  in  the  Province  of  Brussa.  In  this  manner  all  the 
political  injuries  to  which  Italians  were  subject  in  the  various 
regions  of  the  Empire,  remained  unsatisfied  as,  for  instance, 
those  in  connection  with  the  massacres  of  Adana  in  1909. 
And  the  pillaging  of  the  agency  of  the  steamship  company, 
Navigazione  Generate  Italiana,  in  Santi  Quaranta.  Numerous 
other  complaints  of  more  or  less  importance  exist,  such  as 
insults  and  assaults  against  the  members  of  the  Italian  Consu- 
lar service,  which  show  that  for  a  long  time  Italians  were 
surrounded  by  a  hostile  atmosphere,  not  in  accordance  with 
the  friendly  official  relations  between  the  two  nations.  Under 
the  new  regime,  which  had  awakened  great  hopes  in  Italy,  the 
above  deplorable  incidents  became  more  numerous  and  serious. 

A  very  serious  case  occured  recently — the  rape  of  the 
minor  Giulia  Franzoni,  aged  16  years,  fraudulently  abducted 
from  her  family  of  honest  laborers,  employed  in  the  Ottoman 
railroad  works  of  Adana.  The  girl  was  seized,  converted  by 
force  to  the  Moslem  Faith  and  married  by  violence  to  a 
Mohammedan,  notwithstandig  the  protest  of  her  parents,  of 
foreigners  of  other  nationalities,  and  the  intervention  of  the 
Royal  Consulate  and  Embassy. 

This  incident,  which  would  be  of  great  importance  to 
all  nations,  is  more  so  for  Italy,  which  must  provide  for  the 


—  25  — 

protection  of  a  very  large  immigration  of  laborers  employed 
in  the  railroad  works  of  Asia  Minor.  The  fact  that  a  rapid 
solution  was  not  found  for  this  barbarous  system  of  forced 
conversion  and  rape  of  an  innocent  girl,  might  be  incentive 
of  other  similar  cases,  which  directly  affect  the  whole  working 
population,  principally  Italians,  obliged  to  live  with  their  fa- 
milies in  such  regions.  But  the  most  continuous  actions  of 
hostility  by  the  Ottoman  authority  were  perpetrated  in  those 
parts  of  the  Empire  where  Italians'  interests  were  greatest, 
that  is,  in  the  Red  Sea  and  in  Tripolitania.  From  the  re- 
ports of  our  Consul  and  from  statements  of  persons  returning 
from  those  regions,  from  the  continuous  incidents  which  ori- 
ginated through  the  Turkish  functionaries,  it  is  clearly  shown 
that  a  hostile  atmosphere  was  aimed  at  against  Italian  inter- 
ests, as  if  to  stem  their  increasing  development. 

The  behavior  of  the  Ottoman  Authorities  in  the  Red 
Sea  and  on  the  coast  of  Arabia,  opposite  the  colony  of  Eri- 
trea, has  always  been  violent  and  provocative.  The  incidents 
by  which  offence  was  given  to  the  Italian  Flag  are  too  many 
to  enumerate.  We  shall  cite  only  a  few  which  happened 
under  the  new  regime.  On  June  5th,  1909  the  Turkish 
Warship  «  Nurahad  »,  40  kilometers  from  the  coast  of  Turkey, 
took  possession  by  force  of  the  sum  of  3,340  Talleri  on 
board  the  Italian  Bark  «  Solima  »,  a  piratical  act  without  any 
reason  whatever.  Recently  some  notoriety  was  given  to  the 
incident  of  the  Steamship  «  Genova  »  seized  by  a  Turkish 
Warship,  towed  to  Hodeida,  and  subjected  to  an  unjust  pro- 
ceeding of  attempted  appropiation  by  force  of  arms.  The 
Italian  Government,  moved  by  a  spirit  of  conciliation,  at- 
tempted to  make  an  investigation  in  the  matter  in  order  to 
amicably  settle  the  incident.  The  results  of  the  investigation 


—    26    — 

were  such  as  to  shame  any  civil  government  in  what  con- 
cerned the  conduct  of  a  local  functionary. 

But  that  was  not  enough.  While  the  incident  of  the 
Geneva  was  being  settled  on  December  5th,  1910,  .the  Com- 
mandant of  Turkish  Warship  entered  by  force  of  arms  on 
Board  the  bark  «  Selima  »  and  forced  the  Captain  to  turn  over 
the  mail  of  the  merchants  of  Massaua.  Vexations  of  another 
nature,  of  no  less  importance,  were  made  against  other  Barks 
from  the  Colony  of  Eritrea,  belonging  to  Ali  Kozem  and  Kalid 
Hamed.  While  the  Turkish  authorities  were  perpetrating  other 
vexations  of  minor  importance  against  other  vessels,  always 
ready  to  damage  the  commerce  of  the  Italian  colony  of 
Eritrea,  on  Aug.  21,  1916,  in  the  hope  of  impunity,  they 
took  vengeance  on  the  cargoes  from  Eritrea  on  board  the 
vessel  Path  Esaon  Path  es  Salam,  beating  the  Captain,  throwing 
him  into  the  sea,  and  abandoning  the  damaged  vessel  after 
having  taken  all  the  merchandise  on  board,  the  provisions 

of  the  crew  included.     The  barks  and  the  merchants  of  Eri- 

\ 

trea  terrified  by  the  continuous  threats  from  the  Turkish 
authorities  on  the  coast  of  Arabia,  have  therefore  relinquished 
in  great  part  their  business  there,  with  great  damage  to  the 
commerce  of  our  colony.  The  hostilities  of  the  Ottoman 
authorities,  at  times  openly  and  violently  waged,  and  at  times 
deceitful  and  spiteful,  assumed  still  greater  proportions  in  Tri- 
politania.  The  only  aim  is  to  wage  war  against  the  eco- 
nomic interests  and  commerce  of  Italy,  and  to  prevent  the 
increase  of  Italian  influence.  We  cite  a  few  incidents,  se- 
lecting them  from  the  long  series  we  could  quote: 

The  Bank  of  Rome  starts  in  Tripolitania,  with  an  Italian 
capital  of  real  and  beneficial  civilization  to  the  country.  The 
authorities  prohibit  the  natives  to  have  any  dealings  with 
that  institution  and  punish  them  for  imaginary  crimes  if  they 


—  27  — 

disobey.  The  Bank  is  prevented  from  obtaining  the  legal 
acknowledgment  before  the  local  courts,  and  when,  after  two 
years  of  laborious  attempts,  the  acknowledgment  cannot  be 
further  delayed,  the  vexations  again  commenced,  taking  another 
form.  The  Valis  rapidly  succeed  each  other  in  the  Government 
of  the  Vilayet,  but  the  policy  is  always  the  same,  until  in  1910 
the  new  Vali,  Ibrahim  Pasha,  openly  declared,  in  the  Counsel 
of  administration  that  he  would  systemically  oppose  any  Ita- 
lian initiative  giving  clearly  to  understand  that  such  were  the 
instructions  of  his  Government.  Thus  all  the  propositions, 
all  the  requests,  for  concessions  or  enterprises  made  by  Ita- 
lians, such  as  aqueducts,  radio-telegraphic  plants,  roads,  etc., 
are  invariably  denied.  Despite  the  Treaties,  Italian  subjects 
are  denied  the  obtaining  of  land.  At  Horns,  at  Bengazi  and 
at  Derna,  the  natives  who  want  to  sell  are  threatened  and  the 
vengeance  is  taken  on  pretext  entirely  foreign  to  the  real 
cause.  Against  the  agreements,  resistance  is  opposed  to  the 
Archaeological  and  Mineralogical  Missions  from  Italy.  All 
obstacles  and  difficulties  are  accumulated  against  Italian 
enterprises,  oil  mills,  and  our  navigation.  */ 

The  natives,  terrified,  do  not  dare  to  avail  themselves 
of  these  institutions  and  establishments,  being  afraid  of  trai- 
torous vengeance.  In  the  midst  of  such  handicaps  and  dif- 
ficulties, great  crimes  occur,  such  as  the  murders  of  Father 
Giustino  at  Derna  and  of  Gastone  Terreni,  which  was  com- 
mitted a  short  time  after,  between  Tripoli  and  Horns.  It 
was  attempted  to  cover  this  murder  under  the  appearance  of 
a  suicide,  which  was  disproved  by  witnesses  and  posthumous 
evidence.  For  such  a  barbarous  crime,  no  satisfaction  what- 
ever has  ever  been  obtained,  not  even  a  proceeding,  either  civil 
or  criminal,  as  asked  for  by  the  murdered  man's  relatives 
and  repeatedly  requested  by  both  the  Royal  diplomatic  and 
Consular  authorities. 


28    — 

A  statement  that  there  was  no  cause  for  action  and  the 
lapsing  of  the  criminal  proceeding  on  account  of  a  pro- 
claimed amnesty,  was  all  that  the  local  authorities  would  con- 
descend to  grant. 

Such  two  mournful  cases,  originating"  from  the  Turks 
notorious  hatred  against  Italians,  caused  consternation  and 
discouragement  in  the  Italian  Colony,  which  became  neces- 
sarily timid  in  starting  any  useful  enterprise.  All  intervention 
by  the  Royal  Consul  authorities  in  the  Vilayet  is  openly  or 
covertly  obstructed  by  the  Turkish  authorities,  as  was  shown 
in  the  case  concerning  the  newspaper  man,  Arbib,  clubbed 
by  the  police,  against  which  the  intervention  of  the  Royal  Dra- 
goman Saman  had  no  other  effect  than  to  provoke  a  new 
and  more  flagrant  violation  of  the  capitulations. 

All  these  uninterrupted  series  of  violence,  intimidations, 
and  abuses  are  openly  encouraged  and  supported  by  the 
newspaper  Marsad,  the  official  organ  of  the  Vilayet,  printed 
in  the  Vali's  printing  office  and  inspired  by  him ;  which  news- 
paper has  a  large  circulation  among  the  Arabs,  and  is  never 
sparing  on  any  occasion  in  abuses  and  affronts  against  Italy. 

From  the  above  it  is  clearly  shown  that  the  Italian  Go- 
vernment found  itself  against  a  system  and  a  program  of 
preconceived  hostilities  against  its  subjects  and  against  the 
Italian  interests  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  generally,  and  in  Tri- 
poli especially. 

The  warm  and  almost  universal  sympathy  with  which 
Italy  has  greeted  the  assumption  of  power  by  the  Young  Turks, 
the  desire  to  give  time  for  the  new  consolidation  of  the  new 
regime,  the  wish  to  prevent  difficulties  and  embarrassments 
to  the  Ottoman  Empire  or  to  Europe,  inspired  the  Italian 
Government  with  patience  and  friendliness,  which  will  not 
have  many  instances  in  the  history  of  nations. 


—  29  — 

Hopes  were  entertained  on  the  consolidation  of  the  new 
government  of  the  acceptance  of  good  advice,  repentance,  and 
of  reciprocating  a  friendship  which,  on  our  side,  was  bought 
at  the  sacrifice  of  our  own  interests.  But  all  was  in  vain; 
the  situation  was  getting  worse  and  worse  every  day. 

We  found  in  Constantinople  alternatively  either  a  Go- 
vernment which  gave  mellifluous  words  and  promises  which 
afterward  were  not  sustained  by  corresponding  facts,  or  a  go- 
vernment without  any  authority,  which  was  unable  to  im- 
pose obedience  on  its  dependents,  a  government  which  lacked 
the  strength  to  impose  the  respect  and  observance  of  the 
Treaties  and  the  capitulations  and  contracted  obligations.  In 
other  words,  a  government  which  has  failed  to  keep  toward 
Italy  its  International  duties. 

The  limit  has  been  reached.  The  violent  attacks,  beyond 
all  measure  injurious,  of  the  Turkish  Press,  the  systematic  re- 
sistance and  the  utter  lack  of  good  faith  in  the  subordinate 
authorities,  the  extraordinary  series  of  incidents,  and  com- 
plaints of  all  kinds,  augmenting  day  by  day,  have  finally 
shaken  and  tired  public  opinion,  the  press,  the  parliament 
and  the  government  of  Italy. 

Italy  is  now -compelled  to  give  up  every  hope  of  a  pea- 
ceful settlement  with  Turkey.  Having  lost  faith  in  the  many 
vain  words  and  mendacious  promises  given  by  Turkey  in 
latter  years,  having  lost  patience,  Italy  decided  to  abandon 
her  policy  of  forbearance,  which  might  be  reproached  as  a 
sign  of  weakness  and  acknowledgment  of  inferiority,  and  has 
finally  resolved  to  obtain,  with  the  greatest  energy,  the  respect 
of  her  rights,  and  the  protection  of  her  interests. 

The  blame  will  fall  upon  those  who,  for  the  last  three 
years,  have  daily  provoked  us,  causing,  by  way  of  small  or 
serious  incidents,  an  atmosphere  of  hostility  in  the  several 


—  30  — 

provinces  of  the  Empire,  and  especially  Tripolitania,  thus 
rendering  uncertain  the  safety  of  the  Italian  subjects  and  dan- 
gerous the  carrying  on  of  the  peaceful  commerce  of  Eritrea 
and  in  the  Red  Sea. 

SAN  GIULIANO. 


There,  has  not  been  a  war  yet,  which  has  not 
found  sympathy  and  opposition,  not  only  at  home 
but  in  every  Nation,  even  if  the  critics  had  no  par- 
ticular interests  in  the  welfare  of  one  or  the  other 
of  the  contending  parties. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  refer  only  to  that  gigantic 
war  between  Russia  and  Japan,  during  which  the 
Japaneese  arm'y  was  accused  of  the  most  atrocious 
and  inhuman  massacre  in  Manchuria,  but  if  one 
tries  to  recollect  the  Transvaal  struggle,  England 
was  then  considered  a  barbarous  Nation,  and  the 
sympathies  of  the  world  were,  for  a  while,  for  the 
Boers,  whom  German,  French,  Italian,  and  many 
American  volunteers  went  to  join  in  their  struggle 
against  England. 

And  who  does  not  remember  the  atrocities  of 
the  French  in  Madagascar,  and  the  protest  of  many 
Nations  against  the  American  doings  in  the  Phili- 
pines  Islands. 

The  Germans  had  their  share  of  criticism  for 
their  cruelty  against  the  Natives  of  their  new  acqui- 
sitions in  Africa. 


But  nobody  will  ever  forget  the  sickening  atro- 
cities of  the  Turks,  from  the  day  they  slaughtered 
the  poor  Christians  in  Constantinople,  450  years 
ago,  when  Santa  Sofia,  was  left  a  mass  of  piled 
up  corpses  of  women,  of  children,  of  old  people 
who  had  run  to  seek  refuge  under  the  cross;  to 
the  present  massacre  of  the  Armenians,  of  the  Ma- 
cedonians, of  the  Albanians. 

Every  man,  who  has  been  a  soldier,  who  loves 
to  see  the  courage  of  a  patriot  on  a  battlefield,  in 
the  defense  of  his  country,  cannot  but  admire  the 
valor  of  the  Turkish  army  at  Pleuna,  the  valor  of 
the  Turks  whenever  valor  had  to  be  shown  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy. 

But  history,  which  is  true,  will  always  write 
with  horror,  their  barbarity,  and  no  morbid  cor- 
respondent, bribed  to  tell  sensational  inventions, 
against  the  most  human  army  of  Italy,  which  in  so 
many  occasions  has  shown  her  tender  kindness,  can 
change  the  truth  of  history. 

It  has  been  a  surprise  to  the  world  at  large, 
the  quick  action  of  Italy,  her  rapid  mobilization  of 
the  army,  the  wonderful  way  the  formidable  fleet 
of  transport  was  gathered  at  Taranto,  with  the 
enormous  amount  of  provisions,  of  material  of  war, 
for  such  a  large  army  of  invasion. 

But  to  the  few  close  students  of  Politics,  and 
especially  European  politics,  it  will  not  be  possible 


to  believe  that  the  other  Nations  were  not  aware 
of  details  of  Italy's  plans. 

And  the  same  students  will  easily  understand 
the  dumb  silence  of  the  German  Government,  the 
hesitating  protest  of  England,  the  bitter  attack  of  the 
official  press,  and  the  characteristic  silence  of  the 
diplomacy  of  Europe. 

Every  power  in  Europe  is  watching  anxiously 
the  Italian  enterprise,  and  every  Nation  intimately 
wishes  her  a  complete  success,  as  well  as  every 
Government  hopes  for  it. 

England,  eager  that  a  strip  of  land,  which  she 
could  not  very  well  occupy  without  protest  from 
France  and  Germany,  should  be  in  the  hand  of 
a  friendly  Nation,  of  which  she  has  no  fear  for 
her  tutelage  of  Egypt ;  Germany  anxious  that  France 
should  not  have  the  full  dominion  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  and  France  satisfied  that  the  aspiration 
of  Germany  over  the  possession  of  the  port  of  To- 
bruck  should  vanish  for  ever,  and  Austria  watching 
her  opportunity  for  a  compensation,  each  one  of 
those  Nations  is  interested  to  wait  in  expectation, 
each  one  wishing  a  success  to  Italy. 

In  the  meantime  none  of  them  would  care 
to  openly  offend  Turkey,  for  each  one  is  inter- 
ested to  avoid  stirring  up  the  religious  sentiment  of 
Turkey,  to  precipitate  a  war  of  Islam  against  Christ- 
ianity. 


—  33  — 

Italy  is  alone  in  the  gigantic  task.  A  peaceful 
Nation,  of  peaceful  citizens,  is  now  single  handed 
in  a  conflict  against  the  most  warlike  Nation,  a 
Nation  of  soldiers  traditional  fighters,  who  perhaps 
justly  call  themselves  invincible. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  official  press  of 
Europe,  with  the  tacit  consent,  and  perhaps  the 
interested  inspiration  of  the  various  different  Go- 
vernments, should  so  bitterly  attack  the  little  and 
young  Italian  Nation  in  her  grand  noble  under- 
taking, with  a  courage  which  ought  to  excite  the 
admiration  of  the  world. 

Italy  will  excuse  a  man  without  a  country,  who 
rised  his  voice  in  contempt  against  her,  because  that 
man  is  a  Jew,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
Italy  is  the  only  country  where  his  coreligionists 
have  enjoyed  the  widest  liberty,  the  greatest  con- 
sideration and  respect;  for  the  miserable  interest  he 
has  in  Palestina,  where  the  Jews  would  not  exist 
if  it  was  not  for  the  protection  of  the  Turk,  he 
has  insulted  a  Noble  country,  without  any  right 
without  any  reason  without  a  just  cause.  His  name 
I  will  not  mention  here,  for  to  his  insult  to  my 
beloved  country  I  have  the  right  to  show  my 
greatest  contempt. 

Italy,  notwithstanding  her  sudden  move  and  the 
rapid  execution  of  her  occupation,  had  been  pre- 
paring herself  to  the  serious  enterprise  since  long 


—  34  — 

time,  for  the  Government  was  well  aware  of  the 
difficulties  he  had  to  face. 

The  experience  of  her  Abissinian  possession  has 
taught  Italy  not  to  trust  the  natives,  just  as  England 
cannot  trust  the  Egyptians,  nothwithstanding  the 
great  benefits  England  has  done  to  their  country,  just 
as  France  cannot  trust  the  people  of  the  interland 
of  her  African  Empire,  just  as  the  American  cannot 
trust  the  Philipinos,  notwithstandig  the  fact  that 
France  and  America  have  given  to  the  Africans 
and  the  Philipinos,  liberty,  education,  civilization  and 
wealth. 

It  is  natural,  that  a  race  so  different  in  cha- 
racter, in  aspiration,  in  the  intimate  understanding 
of  its  manner  of  living,  and  especially  so  different 
in  its  religious  sentiment,  which  is  based  on  the 
utter  contempt  of  any  other  religion,  especially  the 
Christian  one,  should,  not  only  mistrust  the  civili- 
zing intentions  of  Europeans,  but  look  with  con- 
tempt and  suspicion  at  anything  that  is  done  for 
them. 

How  many  Indians  have  the  Americans  seen  to 
return  to  their  free  life  of  the  field,  after  a  taste 
of  civilization,  which  they  did  not  understand,  and 
they  did  not  like. 

A  few  miles  from  Algiers,  where  France  has 
planted  the  root  of  the  most  attractive  civilization, 
the  Arabs  live  like  their  ancestors,  apparently  in 


—  35  — 

the  utter  contempt  of  France,    of  the  French,   and 
of  the  fascination  of  a  Parisian  life. 

Italy,  and  the  Italians  are  well  aware  of  it,  for, 
the  coast  and  the  interland  of  Tripoli  and  Cyre- 
naica  have  been  known  for  years,  and  every  point 
of  the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  regions 
has  been  well  studied,  perhaps  as  much  as  every 
spot  of  the  land. 

One  point  is  well  settled,  especially  by  the  expe- 
rience of  the  other  Colonies  of  Italy  on  the  coast 
of  the  Red  Sea,  and  that  is,  the  Arabs  who  inhabit 
the  interior,  will  be  subdued  with  difficulty  to  a 
foreign  domination,  as  their  religious  ties  with  the 
Turks  are  not  easily  severed. 

Those  living  on  the  coast  fully  realize  and  take 
as  much  advantage  as  possible,  of  the  material 
benefits  that  the  European  civilization  brings  to  them, 
but  there  is  no  wasted  gratitude  for  that,  for  their 
entire  confidence  and  their  sympathies  will  strongly 
remain  with  the  Turks,  and  their  apparently  easy  sub- 
mission, cannot  be  trusted,  because  it  is  not  sincere. 
The  source  of  peril  lies  in  the  Arab  tribes  of 
the  back  country,  the  Beduins  in  Tripolitania,  and 
the  Senussis  in  Cyrenaica. 

The  Beduins  of  Tripoli,  allowance  made  for  the 
difference  of  the  land,  of  the  climate,  and  the  ra- 
cial origine,  can  be  compared  almost  to  the  Indians 
of  America. 


-  36  - 

Their  nomadic  habit,  the  few  necessities  of  life, 
the  care  of  their  horses,  which  are  their  constant 
companions,  as  it  is  the  rifle,  which  they  handle 
with  such  a  wonderful  skill,  make  them  equal  to 
the  Indians  with  whom  they  also  have  in  common 
the  greatest  endurance  for  any  fatigue,  the  indomi- 
table courage,  and  the  stoical  resistance  to  any 
pain,  and  utter  indifference  to  death. 

Perhaps  they  have  more  revengfull  character, 
and  are  more  religious  and  fanatic  on  account  of 
their  religion. 

Like  the  ancient  Beduins,  they  are  shepherds, 
and  partly  agriculturists,  although  they  have  rarely 
a  fixed  residence. 

But  they  are,  above  all,  soldiers,  perhaps  sol- 
diers of  the  Desert,  lacking  discipline  and  order, 
but  terrible  guerrillas  in  supporting  a  regular  army; 
quick  to  gather,  and  quick  to  disappear  where  no- 
body ever  knows,  for,  their  home,  is  nowhere  and 
everywhere.  Nobody  knows  how  many  they  are, 
and  that  makes  them  still  more  redoubtable. 

No  Mussulman  will  ever  be  converted  and  no 
Beduin  will  ever  betray  his  kinsman  nor  his  faith. 

That  of  the  Beduins,  the  Indians  of  Tripolitania, 
will  be  a  hard  problem  to  solve  on  account  of  their 
warlike  disposition,  until  they  compromise,  or  they 
will  find  that  the  Italian  occupation  will  be  a  real 
benefit  to  them,  especially  when  the  Turkish  sol- 


—  37  — 

diers  will  be  driven  away.  For,  then,  the  conta- 
gious fanaticism  of  the  turkish  army  will  be  so- 
mewhat cooled  down  by  the  selfpreservation,  by  the 
advantages  of  being  left  to  their  nomadic  freedom, 
to  their  traditional  life  of  shepherds,  in  the  extensive 
fields  of  their  ancestors. 

But  the  prospects  of  what  the  Italian  have  to 
meet  in  Cyrenaica,  seems  to  be  more  serious,  for 
back  of  the  immense  country,  in  the  interland,  over 
the  Caravan  roads  of  the  Libian  desert,  there  lives 
not  only  a  people,  but  a  fanatic  sect. 

The  history  of  the  Senussis,  is  too  well  known 
to  be  recounted  here,  since  the  destruction  at  On- 
durnam  of  the  spurious  Mahdi  by  the  troops  of 
England  under  Kitchener,  Sirdar  of  Egypt. 

The  Senussis  originated  over  one  hundred 
years  ago,  from  a  sort  of  African  Martin  Luther,  a 
religious  reformer,  supposed  to  be  descendant  from 
Fatima  daughter  of  Mahomet,  hailing  from  Algeria. 

Like  all  reformer,  the  founder  of  the  sect,  Sidi 
Mohammed  ben  AH  ben  El  Senussi,  travelled  all 
North  Africa,  as  a  religious  preacher,  and  after  few 
years  of  meditations  in  Holy  Mecca,  returned  to 
Africa  as  a  religious  adviser  of  the  Sultan  of  Wadai 
and  soon  founded,  between  that  State,  among  the 
erratic  tribes  of  the  Sahaara  desert,  to  the  coast,  a 
sect  of  Mahomedan  reform  followers  powerful  for 
their  fanaticism. 


—  38  - 

His  son  El  Mahdi,  during  the  reign  of  Yusef 
Sultan  of  Wadai,  became  the  leader  of  the  new 
Moslem  religion  from  Morocco  to  Egypt. 

His  name,  his  reputation  and  his  power  were 
used  by  Mohammed  Ahmed,  the  Dongal  fanatic, 
who  proclaimed  himself  Mahdi,  rose  against  the 
Egyptians,  and  after  an  adventurous  career  ended 
at  Ondurnam. 

The  real  Senussi  El  Mahdi  instead,  lived  the 
peaceful  life  of  a  religious  reformer,  preaching  piety, 
and  died  in  1902  after  the  occupation  of  his  city 
by  the  French  troops. 

The  present  head  of  the  Senussi,  Ahmed-el- 
Sherif,  retired  at  Kufra,  and  is  the  recognised  moral 
director  of  the  conscience  of  the  Arabs,  who  live 
around  the  great  desert,  to  the  coast. 

There  is  very  little  danger  that  the  Senussis 
would  proclaime  a  Holy  war  against  the  Italians,  to 
please  Constantinople,  for  although  Moslems,  are 
strict  followers  of  the  Coran,  yet  there  is  not  an 
absolute  understanding  between  the  Sultan  of  Stam- 
bul  and  Senussi  Ahmed-El-Sherif. 

But  although  the  Senussis  are  peaceful,  and  they 
are  better  than  the  Beduins  of  Tripoli,  and  in  con- 
sequence, with  due  respect  to  their  religion,  more 
apt  to  accept  Italy's  friendship  for  the  benefit  which 
they  may  expect  from  it,  yet  it  will  be  the  good 
policy  of  Italy,  to  keep  a  careful  watch  on  all  Arabs, 


—  39  — 


Beduins  and  Senussis,  just  as  France  is  doing  since 
a  great  many  years,  and  treat  them  most  court- 
eously, without  ever  trusting  them  for  a  moment. 


The  occupation  of  Tripoli  and  Cyrenaica  has 
brought  on  against  Italy  the  violent  protests  of  se- 
veral Newspapers  correspondents  eager  for  noto- 
riety, cheap  notoriety,  or  paid  for  throwing  mud  on 
a  glorious  Nation,  her  glorious  Navy  and  valiant 
Army. 

The  former  American  Ambassador  to  Turkey, 
Mr.  Strauss  being  a  Jew,  protested  in  the  interest 
of  the  Jews  of  Palestina. 

The  same  protests  were  made  by  Spain,  by  the 
Vatican  against  the  Americans  in  the  Philipines. 
The  same  protest  by  the  Americans  against  the 
Japaneese  in  Corea,  the  same  by  all  the  civilized 
world  against  the  Turks  in  Armenia. 

But,  who  remembers  all  that  stuff  written  to 
please  a  public  hungry  for  sensational  news,  for  the 
sale  of  the  Paper. 

The  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  pro- 
test of  Mr.  Strauss,  answered  a  short  but  expressive 
announcement  of  absolute  neutrality  in  the  Turkish 
Italian  conflict,  and  so  did  the  European  Powers. 


—  40  — 

The  Vatican  alone  sent  a  declaration  of  regret 
to  the  Sublime  Porte,  on  account  of  the  many  re- 
ligious interests  the  Vatican  has  in  Turkey. 

But  after  all  what  should  Italy  care  for,  as  long 
as  she  has  gone  life  and  soul  into  an  enterprise, 
which  she  thinks  just,  and  which  is  just. 

Italy  has  taken  Tripoli,  Bengasi,  Derna  and  To- 
bruk,  with  the  force  of  arms,  and  with  the  force 
of  arms  will  keep  what  she  has  taken,  at  the  dear 
cost  of  her  noble  children's  blood,  and  if  necessary 
she  will  take  more  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  in  the 
name  of  justice,  in  the  name  of  moral,  in  the  name 
of  humanity  and  civilization. 

To  put  a  stop  to  all  hesitations,  to  all  the  unfavo- 
rable reports  and  comments  by  an  hostile  foreign 
press,  and  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the  people  of 
the  world  in  regard  to  the  real  meaning  and  final 
scope  of  the  occupation  of  Tripoli  and  Cyrenaica, 
Italy's  King  Victor  Emanuel  the  third,  the  most  be- 
loved, generous  and  human  Monarch,  Saturday  No- 
vember the  fourth  1911,  signed  and  issued  a  Decree 
of  Annexation,  which  was  sent  to  all  the  Ambassadors 
and  Representatives  of  Italy  to  the  Foreign  countries, 
which  says : 

«  THE  OCCUPATION  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  TRIPO- 
LITANIA  AND  OF  CYRENAICA,  WITH  THE  CONTINUOUS  SUCCES- 
SES OBTAINED  BY  OUR  ARMS,  AND  THE  ENORMOUS  NUMBER 
OF  ITALIAN  TROOPS  ALREADY  CONCENTRATED  IN  THOSE  RE- 


GIONS,  BESIDE  THOSE  READY  TO  LAND,  AND  OTHER  TO  BE 
SENT,  MAKE  ALL  RESISTANCE  FROM  THE  PART  OF  TURKEY 
IMPOSSIBLE. 

»  TO  PUT  A  STOP  TO  THE  SHEDDING  OF  BLOOD,  IT  IS  UR- 
GENT TO  MAKE  THE  POPULATIONS  OF  TRIPOLITANIA  AND  CY- 
RENAICA,  UNDERSTAND  THAT  IT  IS  USELESS  TO  RESIST,  AS 
WITH  THE  PRESENT  ROYAL  DECREE,  TRIPOLITANIA  AND  CYRE- 
NAICA,  ARE  DEFINETIVELY  AND  IRREVOCABLY  PUT  UNDER  THE 
COMPLETE  AND  ABSOLUTE  SOVEREIGNTY  OF  ITALY. 

»  ALL  OTHER  LESS  RADICAL  SOLUTION  OF  THE  QUESTION, 
EVEN  LEAVING  A  SIMULACRE  OF  SOVEREIGNTY  TO  THE  SULTAN 
OVER  THOSE  PROVINCES,  WOULD  HAVE  GIVEN  OCCASION  TO 
ENDLESS  CONFLICTS  BETWEEN  ITALY  AND  TURKEY,  DANGE- 
ROUS TO  BOTH  GOVERNMENTS  AND  DANGEROUS  FOR  THE 
PEACE  OF  EUROPE. 

»  THE  SOLUTION  ADOPTED  BY  ITALY  IS  THE  ONLY  ONE 
WHICH  CAN  PROTECT  THE  INTERESTS  OF  ITALY,  OF  EUROPE 
AND  ALSO  OF  TURKEY. 

»  A  TREATY  SIGNED  ON  SUCH  A  BASIS,  WILL  SETTLE  ALL 
OUR  DIFFERENCES,  AND  SERIOUS  INTERESTS,  AND  WILL  PUT 
US  IN  CONDITIONS  WHICH  WILL  ENABLE  US  TO  INSPIRE  OUR 
POLITICS  TOWARD  THE  MAINTAINANCE  OF  THE  «  STATU  QUO  » 
IN  THE  BALKAN  PENINSULA,  ON  WHICH  THE  CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF  THE  TURKISH  EMPIRE  ESSENTIALLY  DEPENDS  ». 

Europe  is  watching  eagerly  at  the  ultimate  de- 
cisions of  the  Turkish  Government. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  for  the  sake  of  peace,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  new  acquisitions  of  Italy,  that 
Turkey  could  reason  and  accept  the  inevitable. 


42 

But  if  on  the  contrary,  fate  would  decide  dif- 
ferently, then  there  is  the  opportunity  of  solving 
that  Oriental  problem  which  would  be  a  great  step 
toward  civilization,  a  return  to  the  just  conditions 
of  racial  rights,  the  driving  of  the  Asiatics  to  the 
own  home,  and  free  Europe  from  a  shame  which, 
to  her  disgrace,  has  lasted  more  than  fourhundred 
and  fifty  years. 


THE  NEW  ITALY. 


People  are  beginning  to  realize  that  there  is  a 
New  Italy,  although  during  this  year  of  1911, 
she  celebrated  the  5oth  anniversary  of  her  Unifi- 
cation with  an  International  Exhibition  in  Rome  and 
in  Turin,  the  new  and  the  old  Capital  of  the  young 
Nation. 

The  reason  of  this  most  extraordinary,  incre- 
dible fact,  is  that  foreigners  come  to  Italy  to  see 
the  ancient  ruins  of  Rome,  to  study  the  Art  of  the 
past,  and  envy  the  beauty  of  its  climate.  None 
of  them  would  care  to  look  at  the  modern  progress 
of  the  country,  and  many  of  them  treated  with  scorn 
and  contempt  the  effort  of  the  Italians  of  to  day, 
toward  the  improvement  of  their  cities,  of  their  roads, 
of  their  lands,  considering  it  a  sacrilegious  profa- 
nation of  precious  relics,  belonging  not  to  Italy  but 
to  the  world. 


—  44  — 

The  revolution  of  Italy  had  passed  almost  unno- 
ticed, and  most  of  the  people  continued  to  pour 
to  Rome  for  Holy  week  festivals,  to  visit  the  Pope, 
the  Vatican,  the  Churches,  unmindful  of  the  revival 
of  National  festivities,  as  if  they  were  amusing  and 
vulgar  festivals  of  Carnival. 

Few  of  the  intellectual  people  of  Europe  took 
part  in  the  intellectual  development  of  the  country, 
until,  lately,  some  English  writers,  few  German  stu- 
dents, and  still  later  Americans  and  Frenchmen, 
began  to  realize  that  there  was  an  Italy  of  to  day, 
not  born  from  the  ashes  of  ancient  Rome,  not  made 
only  of  tradition  and  historical  remembrances,  but 
a  New  Italy,  made  of  new  blood,  of  almost  a  new 
race,  proud  of  those  traditions  of  which  every  country 
ought  to  be  proud,  but  still  more  conscious,  of  the 
great  noble  mission  of  civilization  and  progress,  for 
which  she  had  fought  and  won,  after  waking  up 
from  centuries  of  torpid  slumber  to  the  realization 
that  there  was  in  her,  the  conscience  of  a  Nation. 

Few  people,  few  students  of  history  have  realized 
long  before  these  last  few  years,  that  Italy,  not  so 
far  back  before  the  middle  of  last  century,  did  not 
exist,  but  as  a  Geographical  expression,  and  that 
then,  nobody  would  have  dreamed  that  Lombardy 
and  Venice,  the  choicest  possessions  of  a  mighty 
Empire,  that  Rome  and  her  States,  the  Religious 
Empire  of  Christianity,  that  Naples  and  Sicily,  the 


—  45  — 

nest  of  the  most  abject  feudalism,  should  in  less 
than  half  a  century  astonish  the  world  by  coming 
together,  called  by  one  sentiment  of  National  feeling 
under  one  Flag,  the  beautiful  tricolor  of  Italy.  It 
was  a  dream  50  years  ago.  It  is  a  beautiful  reality 
to  day. 

Few  students  of  history,  though,  can  realize,  what 
it  has  cost  to  the  Italians,  such  a  redemption,  such 
a  struggle,  which,  any  man  who  loves  his  country, 
cannot  look  back  without  a  profound  sense  of  sur- 
prise and  admiration. 

There  was  a  little  State  in  the  North,  made  up 
of  stubborn  steady  people,  who  had  preserved 
through  the  many  centuries  of  wars,  invasions,  op- 
pressions, misery  and  slavery  which  afflicted  the 
beautiful  peninsula,  the  fire  of  hope  for  the  re- 
demption of  Italy,  moulding  under  the  fuel  of  pa- 
triotic aspirations,  ready  to  burst  into  the  great 
flame  of  National  resurrection. 

And  that  fire,  was  kept  sacred  by  a  race  of  the 
most  chivalrous  Knights,  the  most  generous  leaders 
our  people  would  want,  noble  race  of  soldiers  who 
had  kept  their  name  famous  through  Europe  for 
their  noble  gallant  and  courageous  deeds. 

Nothing  is  more  bewildering  than  the  history 
of  Italy  of  that  time,  when  around  the  glorious 
House  of  Savoy  all  the  Patriots  of  Italy  rushed 
with  one  thought,  the  fulfilment  of  the  aspiration 


_  46   — 

of  each  one  of  them,  the  Unification  of  Italy  under 
one  Flag. 

To  recount  the  history  of  the  Italian  revolution 
of  the  last  60  years,  would  be  long,  but  it  would 
not  be  useless,  because  the  world  at  large  is  igno- 
rant of  most  of  its  splendid  grandness  and  its  achie- 
vements. It  is  an  unwritten  Poem  for  future  ge- 
nerations. 

The  revolution  of  Italy  has  been  a  great  expe- 
riment for  all  European  Nations,  who  have  been 
watching  with  keen  interest  her  struggles,  her  trou- 
bles, and  often  have  doubted  of  her  final  successes. 

Her  daring  Colonial  enterprises,  her  political 
contrasts,  and  oppositions,  the  difficulties  in  which 
she  has  been  on  account  of  her  delicate  religious 
questions,  the  still  more  difficult  problem  of  the 
South,  the  political  international  mistakes  appar- 
ently irretrievable  of  many  of  her  statesmen,  the 
enemies  rallied  against  her,  and  the  many  national 
and  international  misfortunes  of  late  years,  which 
dealt  her  staggering  blows,  predicted  her  a  collapse, 
and  yet,  with  marvellous  courage,  she  rallied,  and 
is  to  day  in  a  firmer  position  than  ever  before, 
more  prosperous  than  most  of  the  Nations  of  Europe 
except  France. 

To  day  Italy's  credit  is  good,  her  currency  cir- 
culate above  par,  and  troughout  the  North  her  com- 
mercial industrial  development  is  marvellous.  And 


—  47  — 

if  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  South,  yet  an 
enormous  improvement  can  be  noticed  also  there, 
since  the  government  has  increased  the  viability  and 
the  means  of  transportation. 

One  of  the  most  vital  problems  Italy  met  since 
her  unification,  was  the  lack  of  schools  all  through 
the  south,  especially  in  Sicily,  where  notwithstanding 
the  natural  intelligence  of  the  people  most  of  them 
could  not  read  nor  write.  This  plague  of  the  «  anal- 
phabetisme  »  as  it  is  called  in  Italy,  is  rapidly  di- 
sappearing with  the  large  appropriations  made  by 
the  Government  for  schools,  and  from  80  per  cent 
of  illiterates  the  country  had  50  years  ago,  the  pro- 
portion has  been  reduced  to  30  per  cent,  with  8  per 
cent  in  most  of  the  provinces  of  the  North.  The 
last  report  of  the  illiteracy  among  the  military  re- 
cruits, gave  only  3  per  cent,  a  very  satisfactory 
result  in  such  a  short  time,  especially  for  a  country, 
which  had  to  face,  so  many  serious  economical  pro- 
blems. 

Italy  is  essentially  an  Agrarian  country  yet  at 
the  time  of  her  unification,  the  systems  of  cultiva- 
tion were  so  far  behind  those  of  France,  Belgium 
and  Switzerland  that  the  undertaking  of  modernising 
the  schools  and  introducing  the  best  and  more  ap- 
propriate methods  was  most  difficult  on  account  of 
the  ignorance  of  the  people  and  the  traditional  preju- 
dices, but  a  comparative  statistic  of  25  years, 


—  48   - 

from  1885  to  1910  is  very  eloquent,  for  it  shows 
an  increase  of  revenues  of  nearly  two  Billions  of 
Lire,  all  due  to  the  improved  methods  of  irriga- 
tion, of  fertilization,  of  intensive  and  extensive  cul- 
tivation. 

Italy  cannot  claim,  like  France  an  increase  of 
200  per  cent,  in  these  last  50  years,  but  her  pro- 
duction has  increased  of  100  per  cent,  which  consi- 
dering her  youth  and  the  great  difficulties  she  had  to 
deal  with,  political,  social  and  financial,  may  be  taken 
as  a  splendid  example  of  Agrarian  regeneration. 
If  one  looks  at  the  economical  Statum  of  Italy 
of  to  day,  he  will  find  some  wonderful  improve- 
ments, made  in  a  comparatively  short  time. 

A  sure  index  of  the  industrial  progress  of  a 
country  is  the  consumption  of  Coal,  which  is  increased 
in  25  years  from  3  to  10  millions  of  Tons  a  year. 

The  steam  power  from  297,000  in  the  year  1894 
was  in  1909,  857,000,  and  the  Water  concessions 
which  in  the  year  1903  were  of  460,000  horses 
power,  went  up  in  the  year  1909  to  600,000. 

And  better  still,  the  Electric  power,  which  was 
only  of  50,500  horses  in  1896,  and  more  than 
doubled  in  1899,  went  to  600,000  horses  power  at 
the  end  of  the  year  1908.  The  Electric  establish- 
ments by  water  power  have  gain  one  third. 

The  mineral  product  has  increased  from  30 
to  76  millions  of  Lire  in  50  years. 


—  49  — 

The  production  of  sulphuric  Acid  from  75,000 
Quintals  in  1864,  went  up  to  5  millions  800,000 
Quintals  in  1909.  And  to  prove  how  the  Agricul- 
tural methods  have  improved,  is  worth  noticing 
that  in  the  year  1893  the  production  of  fertilizers  was 
only  700,000  Quintals  valued  at  about  8  millions  of 
Lire,  while  in  1909  were  sold  9  millions  and  300,000 
Quintals  of  fertilizers  for  52  millions  of  Lire. 

The  silk  production  of  Italy  is  one  fifth  of  the 
world  total,  about  six  times  more  than  France,  and 
four  times  more  than  any  other  Nation. 

The  weaver  looms  which  were  only  665  in  1877 
increased  in  number  to  14,000  in  1909. 

The  value  of  Silk  tissues  from  fifty  millions  in 
1891  is  now  over  100  millions. 

The  Iron  industry  in  1908  was  carried  on  by 
42  Companies,  with  227  millions  of  Lire  of  Capi- 
tals and  20  millions  of  Lire  of  reserve  fund. 

The  production  of  paper  in  1861  was  only 
29,000  kilos,  and  in  1910  kilos  250,000. 

The  Tanneries  are  1 200  with  6500  horses  power, 
employing  besides  15,000  men. 

Many  other  industries  are  growing  rapidly  in 
importance  like  the  Glass  Factories,  Potteries  and 
Chinas  for  which  Italy  has  been  always  renowned. 
The  railroad  mileage  has  increased  from  2  to 
12,000  miles,  with  2,500  miles  of  navigable  Canals 
and  rivers. 


—  .50    — 

The  Mercantile  Marine  from  57  Steamers  in  1861, 
has  now  650,  with  2,220  tons  potentiality. 

The  Financial  condition  of  the  State  is  excel- 
lent. From  1 86 1  to  1910  the  revenues  have  in- 
creased from  758  millions  to  2,132  millions,  and 
the  expenses  from  797  millions  to  2,099  millions. 

In  1 86 1  there  was  a  deficit  of  39  millions  which 
increased  in  the  following  years  of  wars,  and  expenses 
for  improvements ;  but  at  present  is  changed  into 
an  excess  of  16  millions. 

In  the  last  50  years  the  Public  debt  has  increased 
of  455  %  Capital,  and  329  %  interest,  and  what  is 
remarkable  in  the  economical  study  of  the  country, 
the  bonds  which  were  before  1891,  38  %  placed  in 
foreign  country,  they  are  at  present  almost  all  in 
the  hands  of  Italians. 

The  Italian  population  in  47  years  has  increased 
of  nine  millions  of  souls,  and  although  the  increased 
and  improved  agricultural  resources,  the  increased 
industrial  development,  called  for  more  men  to  till 
the  soil,  to  work  in  the  manufactures,  yet  there  was 
a  need  of  expansion,  especially  for  the  overambi- 
tious  and  eager  ones,  to  earn  more  and  to  im- 
prove their  financial  condition. 

The  emigration  though,  became  so  alarming  that 
the  Government  had  to  put  some  restrictions,  and 
is  at  present  beginning  to  diminish,  gradually,  and 
become  only  temporary.  For,  there  is  less  reason 


for  it  as  the  wages  of  farm  laborers  and  mill-hands 
are  greatly  increased  and  the  economical  situation 
of  the  laboring  classes  are,  in  comparison  of  many 
other  countries,  prosperous. 

It  will  be  surprising  to  great  many  who  are  used 
to  hear  of  Italian  poverty  and  Italian  beggars,  how 
the  Saving  Institutions  of  the  State,  hold  at  pre- 
sent more  than  4,000,000,000  Lire,  which  amount 
is  increasing  rapidly. 

A  country  which  can  boast  four  Billions  of  eco- 
nomies among  the  laboring  classes  cannot  be,  cer- 
tainly, considered  poor. 

That  eminent  American  writer  Mr.  William 
Roscoe  Thayer,  Member  of  the  Massachussetts 
Historical  Society,  in  a  book  published  in  1908, 
which  he  called  «  Italica »  «  Studies  in  Italian  life 
and  letters  »  in  his  chapter  «  Thirty  years  of  Italian 
Progress  »  he  writes  : 

«  As  we  come  to  know  better  the  social  and 
economic  conditions  of  our  own  country,  we  get 
over  the  pleasant  assumption  that  Americans  and 
British  are  all  prosperous  -  -  a  fallacy  perhaps  due 
to  the  fact  that  until  lately  the  acquaintance  of  So- 
cial Phylosophers  was  limited  to  the  well-to-do.  In 
the  United  States,  for  instance,  there  are  now  mil- 
lions of  persons  whose  outlook  can  hardly  be  brighter 
than  that  of  the  least  prosperous  Italians.  The 
"  poor  white  trash  "  of  our  South  can  be  matched 


—  52  — 

against  the  most  backward  South  Italians ;  the  de- 
relict medievals  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  are  the 
counterpart  of  the  Brigands  of  the  Abruzzi  and  of 
the  Sardinian  mountaineers. 

»  Nor  are  the  British  Isles  an  exception.  Less 
than  sixty  years  ago  1,000,000  Irish  died  of  famine 
while  luxury  went  on  unabated  in  England:  and 
only  last  year  (1902)  an  economic  census  of  York 
showed  that  23,000  out  of  70,000  inhabitants  of 
that  typical  fairly  prosperous  English  town  live  abi- 
tually  below  the  starvation-line. 

»  Instead  of  holding  our  hands  in  horror  at  the 
poverty  and  illiteracy  of  Italy,  we  should  inquire 
whether  the  poverty  is  greater,  the  illiteracy  more 
widespread  than  in  1860;  and  to  these  questions 
there  can  be  but  one  answer.  Moreover,  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Italy  belongs  the  credit  for  this  stu- 
pendous progress :  had  the  Bourbons  ruled  in  Na- 
ples, the  Pope  in  Rome,  the  Grand  Duke  in  Tu- 
scany, during  the  past  forty  years,  there  would  have 
been  no  such  modernizing.  So  far  as  concerns  eco- 
nomic and  educational  requirements,  we  must  con- 
clude that  United  Italy  has  proved  herself  fit  for 
the  new  era  » . 

As  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  brief  work,  to 
go  into  the  details  of  the  economical  condition  of 
Modern  Italy,  but  to  simply  state  the  great  pro- 
gress the  country  has  made,  since  her  Unification 


—   53  — 

which  (and  it  must  be  noticed,  is  a  very  short 
period  of  time),  it  is  well  to  point  out  the  very 
important  fact  that  Italy's  resources,  did  not  come 
like  those  of  France,  England,  Belgium  or  Holland, 
from  the  very  rich  Colonies  they  possess,  but  that 
on  the  contrary,  Italy's  Colonial  experience  has  been 
a  very  sad  financial  failure,  for  she  could  not  sponge 
a  rich  retribution  from  more  than  200  millions  of 
Indus  like  England  does,  or  coin  the  rubber  market 
of  the  Congo  States  in  gold  like  Belgium,  and  fill 
her  mighty  ships  of  tropical  drugs  like  Holland, 
and  exploit  the  wonderful  mine  of  Madagascar  like 
France. 

Italy  has  been  too  sentimental  in  her  Colonial 
enterprises  so  far. 

She  had  to  learn,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
she  did  learn  a  good  profitable  lesson  in  Abis- 
sinia  and  in  Somaliland,  where  she  has  profused 
millions  of  Lire  to  improve  those  countries,  to  bring 
there  a  wave  of  civilization,  to  be  only  retributed, 
by  the  modern  reporters  of  to  day  war  in  Tripoli, 
with  the  most  insulting  slanders  of  her  cruelty  and 
atrocities,  against  an  Army  and  a  Navy  which  had 
received  so  many  wordly  praises  of  humanity  and 
bravery  in  the  sad  occasion  of  Cholera  epidemics 
and  the  disastrous  Earthquakes. 

But  I  shall  repeat  here  what  Mr.  Thayer  says 
in  his  book  : 


—  54  — 

«  The  cardinal  social  achievement  of  the  ni- 
neteenth century  was  the  discovery  of  slum.  Be- 
fore that,  the  slum  had  been  taken  for  granted 
—accepted  as  a  necessary  evil — from  the  earliest 
time.  Charitable  institutions  had  of  course,  existed, 
and  paupers  had  had  their  dole  of  soup  and  bread, 
with  an  occasional  penny,  but  it  no  more  occurred 
to  even  the  benevolent,  to  stamp  out  pauperism 
than  it  shocked  them  to  keep  slaves. 

»  In  Italy,  under  the  old  Regime  the  slum  itself 
was  almost  a  priviledged  institution. 

»  The  State  of  the  Church  swarmed  with  beg- 
gars, to  whom  Pius  IX  showed  special  indulgence  ; 
how,  indeed,  could  a  Church  which  encouraged  the 
Mendicant  Orders,  sodden  in  idleness  and  carnality, 
effectively  reprove  untonsured  mendicants  ? 

The  Neapolitan  Bourbons  actually  based  their 
throne  on  the  slums ;  the  league  between  Ferdi- 
nand I  or  his  grandson,  Bomba,  and  the  Lazzaroni 
of  Naples  was  so  close  that,  thank  to  it,  the  King 
more  than  once  stifled  the  efforts  of  the  decent  mi- 
nority ;  and  when  Victor  Emanuel  II  entered  Naples 
in  1860  he  fonnd  90,000  professed  Lazzaroni — cri- 
minals of  every  grade,  from  the  most  brutal  assassin 
to  the  sneak-thief,  idler,  drunkard,  low  debauchee, 
tramp — who  avowedly  had  no  honest  employment. 

»  How  stand  the  matter  to  day?  Italy  has  de- 
clared war  on  the  slum.  The  worst  parts  of  Naples 


—  55  — 

have  been  demolished ;  new  broad  streets  bring  light 
and  pure  air  into  what  were  lately  the  most  un- 
healthful  wards  of  Rome  ;  that  reeking  sty,  the 
Florentine  Mercato  Vecchio  and  its  neighborhood, 
is  an  open  piazza. 

»  The  blocks  of  squalid  building  which  crowded 
the  Duomo  at  Milan  have  been  swept  away  to  make 
room  for  one  of  the  noblest  squares  in  Europe. 

»  At  each  of  these  improvements  the  voice  of  the 
sickly  esthetes  was  raised—  "  Vandalism " ,  they  mur- 
mured, f:The  Roman  Ghetto  was  so  picturesque  ''- 
"  The  Old  Market  at  Florence  had  such  delightful 
associations    . 

»  To  these  sentimentalists  the  life,  the  health, 
and  morals  of  the  living  citizens  of  Rome  or  Naples 
or  Florence  are  nothing. 

»  What,  indeed,  could  improve  drainage  or 
lowered  deathrate  mean  to  foreigners  in  pursuit  of 
what  they  mistake  for  cultural  emotions  ? 

»  In  every  city  and  almost  in  every  town  of 
Italy  this  beneficent  Vandalism  "  had  been  carried 
forward. 

»  Naples  has  now  one  of  the  finest  water  sup- 
plies in  the  world;  Rome  which  was  so  miasmatic 
that  during  the  last  year  of  the  Papal  Government 
the  Ecumenical  Council  dreaded  to  sit  there  on  the 
approach  of  warm  weather,  is  now  a  salubrious 
abode.  Sanitation  has  been  pushed  not  only  in  the 


-   56    - 

cities,  but  in  the  country  also,  where  immense  tracts 
of  malarious  or  unproductive  land  have  been  re- 
claimed » . 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  sanitary  organization  of 
Italy,  has  given  very  satisfactory  results  this  last 
twenty  years. 

The  statistic  shows  that  in  the  year  1908  on 
each  1000  inhabitants  7  persons  died  less  than 
in  1888,  which  makes  a  total  of  200,000  people 
saved  in  that  period  of  time. 

The  mortality  is  reduced  from  more  than  27  per 
thousand  to  less  than  20  per  thousand,  and  this 
saving  of  lives  means  an  economic  advantage  of 
great  importance,  a  capital  saving  for  the  Nation. 

But  the  best  sign  of  the  progress  in  Sanitation 
of  a  country  is  the  statistic  relating  to  infectious, 
and  contagious  diseases. 

And  in  that  line  Italy  has  made  very  encourag- 
ing progresses  in  these  last  twenty  years. 

The  mortality  in  cases  of  smallpox  from  607  per 
million  came  down  to  17,  and  in  measles  from  703 
to  341,  in  scarlat  fever  from  303  to  101,  and  in 
diphteria  from  86 1  to  174. 

Also  in  the  cases  of  typhus  the  mortality  came 
down  from  800  to  272  always  every  million  of  inha- 
bitants. 

Considerable  reduction  in  the  mortality  from 
puerperal  fever,  from  malignant  pustule,  as  well  as 
in  tubercular  infections  were  noticeable. 


The  most  notable  progresses  though  were  re- 
ported in  Malaria,  which  from  536  was  reduced 
to  1 02,  and  Pelagra  from  117  to  39. 

Although  part  of  this  favorable  condition  can  be 
attributed  to  the  improved  economical  condition  of 
the  country,  in  general,  yet  the  Sanitary  Legislation 
wisely  applied  was  the  real  factor  of  such  splendid 
results,  to  which  the  Government  contributed  with 
an  appropriation  of  about  3,500,000  Lire  annually, 
less  than  almost  every  other  Nation  of  Europe. 


October  12  1911,  the  Fifth  Congress  of  the 
Italian  Society  for  the  progress  of  Sciences,  was 
inaugurated  in  Rome,  in  the  «  Aula  Magna »  of 
the  «  Sapienza  »  the  University  of  Rome. 

At  the  closing  of  the  Exposition  commemorating 
the  5oth  anniversary  of  the  Italian  Unification,  this 
Congress  had  a  worldly,  universal  importance,  for 
it  was  the  assertion  of  what  liberal,  true  science 
can  do,  toward  the  perfection  of  humanity. 

Minister  of  Public  Instruction  Hon.  Credaro,  in 
his  opening  speech,  quoted  Jules  Ferry,  the  greatest 
modern  statistician  of  France,  once  said: 

«  It  is  from  the  highest  intellectual  culture, 
that  the  young  and  mighty  democracies  rise  and 
acquire  an  eminent  place  in  the  world » 


—   53   — 

The  great  Philosopher  Fitche  said,  that :  «  the 
scope  of  science  is  the  armonic  and  progressive 
development  af  all  the  human  faculties  for  the  bet- 
terment of  humanity  » . 

Minister  Credaro  closed  his  speech  by  hinting 
at  the  real  scope  of  science  and  said: 

«  If  the  future  of  the  Italian  Democracy  would 
consist  only  in  industrialism  and  utilitarism,  it  would 
not  be  worthy  of  its  glorious  past,  it  would  not 
lead  to  our  Nation's  greatness.  The  struggle  for 
existance,  which  is  the  fate  of  every  people  is  based 
above  all  on  intelligence  and  on  science.  The  peo- 
ple which  will  show  the  greatest  refinement  of  na- 
ture, greatest  force  of  intelligence,  and  the  greatest 
wealth  of  intellectual  culture  will  lead  the  others.  > 

The  congress  was  attended  by  all  the  prominent 
men  Italy  has,  in  the  great  field  of  Science,  men  well 
known  troughout  the  world  like  Marchiafava,  Pan- 
taleoni,  Sergi,  Luciani,  Delia  Vedova,  Tonelli,  Vol- 
terra,  Fano,  Ciamician  and  hundreds  of  others  who 
have  worked  all  these  years  to  illustrate  their  mother 
country. 

Is  well  to  the  honour  of  scientific  studies  of  the 
modern  Italian  school,  to  refer  to  some  of  the 
speeches  delivered  in  the  different  subjects,  like  those 
of  Augusto  Righi  on  «  The  New  Physics  »  ;  of  Ugo 
Amaldi  on  the  progress  of  Geometry,  thanks  espe- 
cially to  the  works  of  Bertini,  Veronese,  Segre, 


-  59  — 

Castelnuovo,  Enriques  and  Seven ,  who  have  esta- 
blished a  school  in  Italy, 

Half  a  century  of  economic  and  statistic  studies, 
exposed  by  Achille  Doria,  and  tke  social  and  juri- 
dical section  by  the  eminent  Pantaleoni,  followed 
by  Tangorra,  Delia  Volpe,  Amoroso,  and  Bovio, 
all  well  known  Sociologists,  gave  an  illustration  of 
the  great  interest  taken  by  modern  Italy  in  pro- 
blems of  social  economy. 

Professor  Luciani,  the  author  of  one  of  the 
most  complete  works  of  Physiology  presided  the 
discussion  on  such  an  important  argument,  in  which 
took  part  prominent  scientists  like  Foa,  Fano,  Ba- 
glioni,  Callotti,  Herlistzha. 

And  so  did  for  the  geological  and  mineralogical 
section  Lavalle  and  Vinassa,  and  for  Chemistry, 
the  celebrated  Professor  Blaserna. 

Senator  Ciamician,  who  presided  the  congress, 
made  a  splendid  synopsis  of  the  importance  of  it, 
of  the  great  work  of  these  last  fifty  years  of  studies 
in  Italy,  in  every  branch  of  science  for  the  advan- 
cement of  civilization  in  Italy  through  the  world. 

Italy's  anniversary  of  her  fiftieth  year  of  unifica- 
tion, was  also  an  exhibition  of  her  effort  toward  that 
aspiration  of  progress  and  perfection,  which  ought 
to  be  the  standard  of  every  civilized  Nation,  and 
is  justly  proud  of  her  work,  and  feels  entitled  to 
step  in  amidst  the  other  Nations  who  feel  their 


—   60  — 

duty  to  lead  the  world  toward  the  betterment,  if  not 
the  perfection,  of  mankind,  of  the  human  race. 

If  Italy  has  been  dragged  into  a  war,  it  is  not 
for  her  calling,  Fate  has  decided  so,  and  she  will 
fulfil  to  the  end  her  mission  and  follow  her  destiny. 

It  would  not  be  right,  and  it  would  be  almost 
useless,  to  give  here  even  a  short  history  of  the 
Italian  Navy  and  Army,  in  a  moment  in  which  the 
discussion  on  both  is  open  through  the  watchful 
wide  world,  ready  to  criticise  the  action  and  deeds 
of  both,  on  the  African  coast  and  over  the  Archi- 
pelagus. 

History  will  tell  in  due  time  of  the  noble  deeds 
of  the  two  representatives  of  the  best  thing  Italy 
has  and  to  which  the  Nation  has  entrusted  her 
honor,  her  glory. 


THE  NEW  TURKEY. 


Few  of  the  old  generation  of  Italians,  must  re- 
member yet  the  Crimean  war,  the  terrible  struggle 
carried  on  by  the  armies  of  four  different  Nations 
on  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  against  Russia,  a 
little  over  sixty  years  ago. 

The  haughty  writers  of  England,  the  proud  ones 
of  France,  hardly  mentioned  the  little  State  of  Sar- 
dinia and  Piedmont,  as  one  of  the  four  Nations 
which  fought  side  by  side,  victoriously  saving  the 
old  decrepit  Turk  from  being  wiped  out  by  the 
almighty  Moscovites. 

Yet,  Camillo  Benso  di  Cavour,  the  little  Minister 
of  Victor  Emanuel  II,  had  send  25,000  men,  the 
flower  of  the  little  army  of  Sardinia  and  Piedmont, 
to  build  the  foundation  of  the  mighty  Italy  of  to  day. 

None  of  the  present  generation  of  Italians,  fully 
realize  what  it  meant  the  shedding  of  so  much  noble 
blood,  of  our  young  men  on  the  field  of  Cernaja 


62    — 

at  that  time,  and  few  perhaps  remember  how  only 
a  few  months  ago,  two  of  the  glorious  remains  of 
the  heros  of  that  campaign  were  brought  back,  for 
burial  at  home,  with  the  highest  ceremonies  of 
respect,  from  the  allies  of  then,  the  enemies  of 
to  day. 

They  know  those  Tartars,  of  the  Crescent,  that 
the  Italians  can  fight,  and  that  in  the  midst  of  the 
misery  and  hardship  of  that  war,  they  behaved  like 
veterans,  and  won  the  praises  of  highly  civilized  and 
humane  beings. 

That  little  army  of  Sardinians  and  Piedmontese, 
is  now  the  mighty  army  of  Italy,  ready  to  fight  the 
Tartars  of  the  Crescent  just  as  they  fought  then 
the  Tartars  of  the  Cross,  as  ever  veterans,  but  hu- 
mane not  barbarian. 

The  time  is  ripe  to  show  to  the  world  that 
there  is  still  some  blood  of  the  Romans,  of  the  Ve- 
nitians,  of  the  Genoveses  in  their  veins,  and  that 
although  civilized  and  humane,  they  can  fight  for  a 
good  cause. 

The  world  has  not  forgotten  the  valor  of  the 
Turks,  and  Plewna  is  yet  a  fresh  historical  remem- 
brance of  their  heroism,  of  their  resistance.  But 
nobody  has  forgotten  the  massacres  of  the  poor 
Armenians,  of  the  Macedonians,  of  the  Albanians, 
recent  atrocities  of  the  most  inhuman  barbarians 
the  civilized  world  could  tolerate. 


—  63  — 

The  same  barbarity  that  450  years  ago  distin- 
guished the  soldiers  of  Mahommed  the  Second  when 
Constantinople  fell  a  pray  to  the  mighty  army  of 
Barbarians. 

The  world  has  progressed  in  these  450  years, 
the  civilization  has  advanced,  and  humanity  has 
regulated  and  attenuated  the  barbarities  of  war, 
but  the  Turks  have  maintained  their  valor  and 
their  barbarity  of  old. 

And  yet  they  have  been  in  contact  with  a  great 
jcivilization,  they  have  had  the  opportunities  of  learn- 
ing that  the  life  of  a  Christian  is  worth  that  of  a 
Mussulman,  that  no  religion  teaches  to  kill,  for  the 
lust  of  killing. 

It  is  surprising  that  a  Nation  of  less  than 
25,000,000  of  inhabitants,  averaging  only  25  to  the 
square  mile,  could  have  existed  in  a  sort  of  station- 
ary state  of  semibarbarous  military  rule,  under  the 
worst  form  of  Theocratic  absolute  Monarchy,  for 
four  centuries  and  a  half,  in  continual  contact  with 
a  world  struggling  for  its  advancement  in  civiliza- 
tion, and  that  such  a  Nation  should  not  have  felt 
in  the  least  the  influence  of  the  French  revolution, 
the  social,  political,  intellectual  evolution  that  fol- 
lowed all  through  Europe. 

And  worst  yet,  it  is  surprising  that  the  same 
Nation  should  have  been  able  to  misrule  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  part  of  Europe,  in  spite  of 


-   64  - 

the  continual  protest  of  its  population,  the  conti- 
nual rebellion  of  its  people,  oppressed,  outraged, 
massacred,  under  the  very  eye  of  their  brethren  of 
the  same  race  and  of  the  same  religion. 

Turkey  is  not  an  overprosperous  country.  Her 
agriculture  cannot  be  flourishing,  if  we  consider 
that  the  average  population  is  only  25  per  square 
mile  (very  little  for  an  old  settled  country)  and 
knowing  that  her  methods  of  cultivation  are,  nearly 
everywhere,  most  primitive.  Her  industrial  develop- 
ment is  very  tardy,  her  commerce  is  very  slow,  and 
her  people,  like  all  fatalists,  are  lazy  and  indifferent. 

None  of  the  many  writers,  who  have  tried  to 
sketch  the  Turks,  has  painted  them  so  vividly, 
as  Edmondo  De  Amicis,  in  his  admirable  book  on 
Constantinople,  in  which  he  has  a  chapter  well 
worth  being  reported  here  : 

«  All  have  the  same  seriousness,  the  same  placid 
manners,  the  same  reservedness  of  language,  the 
same  gaze  and  gesture. 

»  Pasha  and  storekeeper  alike,  show  a  kind 
of  haughty  and  aristocratic  air,  which,  even  without 
the  difference  of  dressing,  would  make  you  conceive 
that  there  are  no  common  people  in  Constantinople. 

»  Their  faces  are  cold,  and  reveal  nothing  of  their 
mind,  of  their  thought. 

»  It  is  very  rare  to  find  amidst  them  a  refined, 
frank,  expressive  and  alive  visage,  as  we  find  among 


-  65   - 

us.  Every  face  is  an  enigma.  Their  glance  que- 
stions, without  replying,  and  their  lips  reveal  no 
sensation  of  the  heart. 

»  It  is  hard  to  express  the  deadning  effect 
produced  upon  the  soul  of  a  stranger  by  those 
mute,  cold  masks,  those  statuesque  attitudes,  those 
fixed  eyes  without  expression. 

»  You  -feel  sometimes  like  crying  to  them :  Wake 
up,  and  be  like  human  beings,  for  once,  let  us  know 
who  you  really  are,  what  you  think,  and  what  you 
are  looking  at,  with  those  glassy  eyes. 

»  It  looks  so  strange  and  unnatural,  that  you 
feel  as  if  there  were  an  understanding  between 
them,  or  that  it  may  be  the  effect  of  some  disease 
peculiar  to  Stambul. 

»  But  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  some  of 
the  people,  even  if  the  costumes  and  manners  are 
the  same.  The  original  tipe  of  the  Turkish  race, 
which  is  robust  and  handsome,  is  found  only  in  the 
lower  classes,  who  follow  for  necessity  or  religion 
their  forefathers  sobriety  of  life. 

»  Of  them  there  is  yet  the  vigorous  body,  the 
well  shaped  head,  the  aquiline  nose,  the  piercing 
eyes,  the  prominent  jaw,  and  something  strong  and 
bold  in  the  whole  person,  once  characteristic  of 
the  race. 

»  In  The  Turks  of  the  higher  classes  however, 
in  whom  hereditary  dissipation,  and  the  mixture  of 


—  66  — 

different  blood,  have  left  a  mark,  the  heads  are 
smaller,  the  foreheads  lower,  the  eyes  stupid  and 
the  lips  pendent,  and  their  bodies  corpulent  and 
heavy. 

»  To  these  physical  differences,  may  be  added 
one  greater  still,  which  stands  between  the  Modern 
and  Ancient  race,  and  that  is  one  vague  character- 
less dull  being  who  calls  himself  the  Reformed  Turk. 

»  Thus  comes  the  difficulty  of  studying  the 
Turkish  people,  because,  besides  the  impossibility 
of  approaching  them  intimately,  when  it  would  be 
easy  to  approach  them,  it  comes  out  that  they  do 
not  represent  neither  the  nature  nor  the  idea  of  a 
Nation. 

»  Even  the  corruption  and  contact  with  Euro- 
pean civilization,  have  not  succeeded  in  removing 
from  higher  class  Turks  their  appearance  of  se- 
rious and  vague  sadness,  which  one  sees  among 
the  inhabitants,  and  which  gives  rather  a  favorable 
opinion. 

»  From  general  appearance  the  Turks  of  Con- 
stantinople, are  the  most  civilized  and  polite  people 
in  Europe. 

»  A  stranger  can  wander  ummolested  in  the 
most  lonely  street  of  Stambul,  visit  the  Mosques 
even  at  prayer  time  sure  of  meeting  with  more 
respect  than  perhaps  a  Turk  would  meet  in  our 
churches. 


-  67  - 

>  No  insolent  look  or  word  or   even    curiosity, 
one  meets  in  the  crowd ;  laugher  as  noise  or  excite- 
ment are  rare  among  the  people  ;  there  is  no  pu- 
blic indecency  to  be  seen  and  in  the  market  they 
are  almost  as  dignified  as  in  church :  there  is  always 
a    great    temperance    in    words    and   gestures ;    no 
singing  or  laud  voices  will    ever  disturb  the   quiet 
passenger,  ;  faces,  hands  and  feet  are  always  clean, 
and  it  is  rare    to    see    ragged    or   dirty   garments  ; 
and  there  is   always    a   reciprocal    manifestation   of 
respect    among    all    classes.      But   this   is   only   on 
the  surface.   Their  rottenness  is  concealed.    The  cor- 
ruption   is   dissimulated    by    the    separation    of  the 
two  sexes,  idleness  is  hidden  under  placidness,  dig- 
nity is  the  mask  of  pride,  the  composed  seriousness 
of  aspect  which  resembles  deep  meditation,  conceals 
the  deadly  passivity  of  the  intelligence,    and    what 
seems  sobriety  of  life,  is  nothing   but   an    absence 
of  it 

>  To  be  a  quiet  spectator  in  this  great  world's 
theatre,   seems  to  be  the  Turk's  highest  aspiration. 
To  this  perhaps  he  is  led  by  his  ancient  origin  of 
a  shepherd,   contemplative  and  slow,  and  by  his  re- 
ligion which  ties  his  hands,  leaving   everything    to 
God,  and  by  his   tradition  as    a   soldier    of  Islam, 
tradition  which  tells  him  that  the  greatest  and  best 
deed  of  his  life  is  to  fight  and  conquer  for  his  faith, 
that  it  is  his  duty,  the  only  one  of  his  life. 


—   68  — 

»  All  is,  fatality  with  him,  for  he  is  only  an  in- 
strument in  the  Providence  hands 

»  God  created  man  to  pass  through  the  earth 
to  pray  and  admire  his  works;  leave  all  to  him  . 

»  Consequently,  there  is  neither  thirst  for  know- 
ledge, no  fever  of  gain,  no  desire  for  travel,  nor 
unappeasable  passion  of  love  or  ambition 

»  He  considers  it  an  indication  of  a  morbid  aber- 
ration of  mind  in  us 

»  He  is  liable  to  ask  what  is  the  use  of  a 
railway,  unless  it  leads  to  a  city  where  you  can  be 
happier  than  in  the  one  you  are.  His  fatalism, 
which  considers  a  thought  of  the  future  as  a  vain 
thing,  makes  him  prize  nothing  that  does  not  con- 
tribute to  his  immediate  enjoyment. 

»  Thus  the  European  is  an  idle  dreamer  be- 
longing to  a  frivolous,  mean,  presumptuous  and 
bastard  race,  who  aims  at  things  which,  he,  the 
Turk,  disdains,  unless  he  is  constrained  to  value 
them  for  fear  of  being  undervalued. 

»  And  he  despises  us. 

»  This  appears  to  me  to  be  the  dominant  sen- 
timent which  we,  Europeans,  inspire  in  the  true 
Turks,  who  still  constitute  the  majority  of  the  Nation. 

»  This  feeling  of  contempt  comes  from  various 
causes,  the  first  of  which  is  a  very  significant  fact  : 
viz,  that  for  more  than  four  centuries,  although  re- 


-   69  — 

latively  very  small  in  number,  they  have  held  do- 
minion over  a  large  part  of  Europe,  which  has  a 
faith  different  from  their  own,  and  that  they  mantain 
it,  in  spite  of  what  may  happen  or  has  happened 
(notice  that  Constantinople  of  Edmondo  De  Amicis 
was  written  before  the  year  1878). 

»  Half  the  people  explain  this  as  the  consequence 
of  the  jealousy  and  discord  among  European  States, 
but  the  great  majority  sees  in  it  the  superiority  of 
their  strenght,  and  our  own  degradation.  It  never 
enters  into  the  mind  of  any  Turk  of  the  lower  class, 
that  Turkey  in  Europe  could  ever  be  subject  to 
the  affront  of  a  Christian  conquest  from  the  Dar- 
danelles to  the  Danube.  To  our  claim  of  civiliza- 
tion they  oppose  the  fact  of  their  domination. 

»  Haughty  by  nature  and  strengthened  in  their 
haughtiness  by  the  consuetude  of  the  Empire,  used 
to  hear  in  the  name  of  God  that  they  belong  to 
a  victorious  race,  born  and  raised  to  the  art  of  war, 
not  to  the  tranquillity  of  peace,  accustomed  to  live 
upon  the  labor  of  the  conquered,  they  do  not  un- 
derstand how  people  subject  to  their  rule,  should 
have  any  rights  whatever  to  civil  equality. 

»  For  them,  full  of  a  blind  faith  in  the  power 
of  a  wise  Providence,  their  conquests  in  Europe, 

were  the  realization  of  God's  edict 

Civilization  for  them  is  only  an  hos- 
tile force  that  would  disarm  them  without  fight- 


—  70  — 

ing 

....  and  despoil  them  of  their  domination  .   .   . 

.  .  .and  from  the  example,  they  have  before  them, 
of  the  reformers  of  their  Nation,  who  wear  coats 
and  gloves,  and  are  supposed  to  accept  European 
ideas,  they  conclude  that  the  New  Turk,  is  not 
worth  the  Old  Turk. 

»  He  has  adopted  our  clothes,  our  comforts, 
our  vices,  and  our  vanities,  but  he  has  not  assimi- 
lated either  our  sentiments  or  our  ideas ;  he  has 
lost  in  his  partial  transformation,  what  was  good 
in  the  genuine  Ottoman  nature,  and  has  acquired 
nothing  to  identify  him  from  the  European  ». 

This  admirable  picture  made  by  the  pen  of  Ed- 
mondo  De  Amicis,  more  than  thirty  years  ago, 
stands  to  day  as  fresh  as  the  day  it  was  written. 

Yet  the  world  has  gone,  everywhere,  forward, 
on  the  road  of  civilization,  toward  the  betterment 
of  humanity  at  large,  toward  the  mutual  work  of 
uplifting  mankind,  for  the  great  sentiment  of  fra- 
ternity and  equality  which  must  be  the  guide  of 
modern  civilization. 

It  is  not  the  oriental  failing,  which  can  excuse 
the  Turks  for  their  fatal  inertia,  for,  Japan,  an  Orien- 
tal Nation,  has  given  a  splendid  example  of  pro- 
gress and  assimilation  that  surprised  the  world. 


^  ^   ^  *T        T  -TT . 

But  Japan  began  the  intellectual  upward  move- 
ment, since  the  day  of  the  fall  of  the  Taicum,  since 
the  day  of  the  death  of  that  fatalism  which  is  the 
death  of  all  human  hope  and  aspiration. 

The  Young,  the  New  Turk  as  well  as  the  old 
one,  still  lives  in  that  Fatalism  which  is  his  religion, 
which  will  always  be  his  religion,  his  creed,  his 
pride,  which  gives  him  that  overconfidence  in  his 
power,  that  makes  him  despise  every  one,  who  is 
not  a  Turk,  to  which  ever  Nationality  or  race,  he 
may  belong. 

«  He  endures  them  all,  when  necessary,  as  a 
big  animal  endures  a  myriad  of  flies  upon  his 
back,  ready  to  make  way  with  them  as  soon  as 
they  become  unendurable  ». 

He  even  tries  to  adapt  himself  to  the  circum- 
stances, but  intimately  is  immutable,  and  invincibly 
the  same,  a  Turk. 

While  Europe  in  these  last  fifty  years  has  run 
a  race  with  America  in  the  struggle  for  intellectual, 
commercial,  industrial  artistic  progress,  Turkey  has 
remained  gun  in  hand  to  defend  the  pray  of  more 
than  four  centuries,  without  a  single  thought  of 
winning  that  prize  with  something  that  was  not  only 
the  brutal  force  of  coercion,  of  oppression,  of  tyranny. 

The  New  Turks  have  for  a  moment  startled 
the  world,  with  a  new  move,  toward  the  conquest 
of  modern  ideas,  and  liberal  democracy,  but  a  re- 


—  72   — 

volt  made  in  their  name,  has  proved  to  be  a  simple 
conspiracy  to  get  rid  of  an  objectionable  tyrant. 

But  the  old  regime  of  superstition,  of  fanatism 
remains,  and  the  Ulemas  are  yet  the  leaders.  And 
the  Bugaboo  of  the  Holy  war  still  hang  over  Eu- 
rope, over  Christianity,  against  justice  and  progress. 

And  yet  with  so  much  beauty  of  Nature  to  be 
inspired  by,  so  much  wealth  of  Nature  to  be  en- 
couraged, the  same  beauty,  the  same  wealth  which 
inspired  and  encouraged  the  people  of  the  ancient 
empires  which  held  that  country,  the  present  race, 
which  holds  it  now,  has  not  shown  any  product  of 
inspiration,  any  fruit  of  scientific  investigation,  any 
outcome  of  agricultural,  commercial  or  industrial 
advancement,  which  is  the  present  aim  of  every 
Nation,  whose  standard  is  not  the  simple  display 
and  exhibit  of  brutal  Force. 

Turkey  has  an  army,  a  powerful  army  because 
those  ancient  shepherds,  nomad  wanderers  are  born 
soldiers,  are  all  soldiers,  and  behind  the  mighty 
fortresses  of  the  Dardanelles,  built  by  the  cautios 
indulgence  of  mighty  European  Nations,  jealous  of 
each  other,  can  defend  their  stronghold  of  Con- 
stantinople, but  have  no  navy,  nothing  that  shows 
the  industrial  progress  of  modern  Nations. 

Nothing  is  visible  in  that  Great  Metropolis  of 
Constantinople  of  what  the  Turks  have  given  to 
civilization  in  these  four  centuries  of  misrule,  so- 


—  73  — 

rnething  that  is  their  own,  that  has  not  been  given 
to  them  by  some  European  Nation,  whom  they 
deeply  despise. 

No  inspired  work  of  art,  no  original  music,  no 
genial  production,  no  invention,  no  great  discovery, 
nothing  in  fact  remarkable  that  has  come  from  their 
intellectual  effort  or  their  material  skill,  has  ever 
been  given  by  them  to  humanity. 


CONCLUSION. 


The  Great  Napoleon  was  quoted  once,  as  saying, 
that  Europe  would  be,  some  day  in  the  near  future, 
either  Russian  or  Republican. 

The  Turks,  instead,  think  that  the  future  is 
in  the  hand  of  Allah,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
they  firmly  believe  so,  even  to  day,  after  the  evi- 
dent fact  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  continual 
help  of  England,  for  the  fear  of  Germany,  for  the 
financial  support  of  a  race  of  people  which  see  in 
the  protection  of  Turkey  their  only  salvation  in 
Orient,  Russia  would  have  gone  to  Constantinople 
long  ago,  and  Europe  would  have  been  a  Tartar 
country,  and  the  Dardanelles  the  gate  of  a  Mosco- 
vite  sea,  that  same  sea  that  once  was  Roman. 

And  the  combined  armies  of  Germany,  of  Au- 
stria, of  Hungary  together  would  not  have  been  able 
to  arrest  the  irruent  army  of  the  Czar  the  invincible 


-   76  — 

horde  of  Cosacks,  from  sweeping  everything,  before 
them,  through  Europe,  as  Attila  did  with  his  Huns, 
centuries  before. 

England  realizes  that  her  mighty  navy,  would  be 
powerless  against  that  indestructible  gate  of  the 
Dardanelles  that  she  carefully  helped  to  build,  always 
with  the  hope  that  her  natural  allied  would  watch 
against  the  danger  of  the  Moscovite  invasion. 

But  Russia,  the  misterious  land  of  wealth,  un- 
developed country  of  100,000,000  of  inhabitants,  all 
slaves  like  their  name,  all  fanatic  servants  of  their 
white  ruler  of  the  Kremlin,  would  march  as  one 
man,  to  fight  and  conquer. 

While  Europe  could  always  cope  with  the  de- 
crepit tartar  of  Orient,  who  can  hardly  muster  an 
army  of  half  a  million  of  souls,  valiant,  stubborn, 
but  ragged  soldiers,  backed  by  a  Nation  of  only 
a  quarter  of  a  million  of  inhabitants,  almost  without 
resources,  she  could  not  very  well  stand  an  army 
of  more  than  one  million  of  Russians,  also  valiant, 
more  stubborn  and  still  more  fanatic,  supported  by 
a  Nation  of  more  than  100  millions  of  inhabitants, 
and  a  country  full  of  untold  resources. 

Turkey,  left  to  herself,  alone,  against  her  old 
foe,  would  be  a  mere  toy  in  the  hands  of  Russia, 
and  Europe  would  be  soon  at  the  mercy  of  the 
great  invader. 


—   77   — 

Beware  England,  beware  Europe.  Dont  let  the 
opportunity  of  to  day  be  lost  for  ever,  to-morrow 
might  be  too  late. 

Russia  has  not  recovered  yet  from  the  blows  of 
Japan,  and  Turkey  is  almost  in  a  state  of  Anarchy, 
and  no  moment  is  more  propitious  than  this,  and 
there  will  never  be  one  so  favorable  for  Europe  to 
settle  for  ever  that  Oriental  question,  that  problem  of 
the  Balcans,  which  has  cost  for  the  past  so  many 
thousand  precious  lives  and  so  many  millions  of 
pounds,  and  will  cost  as  many,  and  more  in  the  future. 

Leave  the  old  quarrels  for  a  while,  join  hands 
for  a  good  and  noble  cause,  and  with  a  formidable 
army  of  Four  big  powers  invite  Turkey  to  leave 
Europe,  to  return  to  Asia  where  she  belongs  to. 

Her  450  years  experience  of  Asiatic  civilization 
in  Europe  has  failed,  and  has  cost  too  much  to  be 
worth  trying  any  longer.  Europe  is  a  Christian 
country,  and  as  a  Christian  country  has  been  stri- 
ving to  foster  a  civilization,  which  is  her  own,  which 
is  just  the  opposite  of  that  of  Islam.  Europe's  aim, 
is  peace,  and  following  the  dictates  if  Christ  is 
struggling  to  settle  with  arbitrations  the  future 
troubles  which  may  arise  among  civilized  Nations. 

Her  aim  will  be  possible,  for,  the  education  of 
the  masses  tend  to  abolish  wars,  tends  to  solve 
with  mutual  understanding,  even  the  most  compli- 
cated and  difficult  international  questions. 


A  Nation  like  Turkey,  whose  power  is  based 
on  a  religion,  which  does  not  recognise  science  as 
the  man  liberal  guide  to  the  research  of  Truth, 
as  the  human  mean  toward  perfection,  but  relies 
only  in  the  fatal  decrees  of  Allah,  besides  the  brutal 
force  of  his  gun,  could  never  arbitrate  with  a  ci- 
vilized country. 

There  is  not  one  point  of  contact  between  the 
two  religions,  between  the  two  civilizations,  there 
is  nothing  in  common,  nothing  that  socially  could 
ever  bring  them  together. 

Nothing  can  be  expected  from  the  Turkish  do- 
mination in  Europe,  even  by  the  New  Turks,  for 
there  is  nothing  they  can  give  her  now,  nothing 
they  will  be  able  to  give  her  in  the  future  which  will 
be  congenial,  acceptable  to  her  way  of  almost  uni- 
form progress  and  advancement. 

The  place  she  holds  in  Europe  as  conqueror, 
she  will  have  to  relinquish  some  day  in  the  future, 
and  this  is  the  historical  evolution  of  Nationalities 
which  will  settle  the  great  Balcan  question  with  the 
force  of  arms  later  on,  when  again  it  will  cost  hu- 
man lives  by  thousand,  and  untold  fortunes. 

Beware  Europe,   beware  England. 

The  time  has  come  that  with  an  armed  arbi- 
tration, Macedonia  could  be  set  free  and  Constan- 
tinople made  the  head  city  of  an  Hanseatic  League, 


—  79  — 

removing  for  ever  the  threatening  cause  of  Russian 
interferance. 

A  joint  garrison  of  the  almighty  powers  of  Eu- 
rope, would  guarantee  to  that  country  that  peace, 
which  would  set  her  soon  on  the  road  of  a  stu- 
pendous progress,  and  the  city  of  Costantinople 
would  be  in  a  few  years  the  pearl  of  Orient,  the 
center  of  Christianity,  the  seat  of  civilization,  the 
home  of  Peace. 


INDEX. 


TO  HIS  MAJESTY  THE  EMPEROR  OF  GERMANY  ....    Page  V 

TRIPOLI  AND  CYRENAICA , I 

THE  NEW   ITALY 43 

THE   NEW   TURKEY 6l 

CONCLUSION 75 


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